Rationalized Delirium
by Dismal Tempest
Summary: Elodie is unfamiliar with the inner workings of our fair Gotham and gets in way over her head when she gains attention from the wrong kinds of people. OC. My first fic.
1. She Fell From the SkyLight

It was quiet, almost to the point of silence, as the one less known as Dr. Victor Fries was working in his laboratory. Besides the occasional ruckus from the henchmen, the cold-hearted man was left to his own devices. He had been trying fruitlessly to make the mileage to his cryo-suit longer lasting, but was having no such luck in the matter.

"Damn!" He growled, banging a fist against the countertop, only to let out more profanity as a beaker rattled off the surface and plunged to its demise.

Just as he was about to resume working, however, a picture on the room's intercom system blipped on and a frazzled looking henchman started to sputter unintelligibly.

"Out with it, fool!" The iceman exclaimed, having no patience for moronic underlings while he worked.

"Boss, something-someone-something just fell through the roof! We don't know what to do with it!" Curiosity instantly snapped the doctor out of his brooding and made him wonder enough to want to see the anomaly, himself.

"Don't touch it," were his simple instructions, before turning the monitor off, and storming into the front room that usually functioned as a lounge for any unoccupied flunkies.

Surly enough, glass littered the floor from the broken skylight and his men were gathered around the cause of the commotion.

"What is it? Get out of my way!" He called, shoving a few of the gawking men out of the way, before his own expression turned quizzical.

There, lying curled up into a ball, violently quaking, was a woman. Frost clung to her white-blonde hair and her lips and fingertips were dangerously close to being just as blue as Freeze's skin. All she wore was a tank top and a pair of shorts and the rest of her visible skin had turned a startling violet color. Every conscious person in the room simply stared at the shivering mess, not knowing what to do, until the iceman himself bent down and scooped her up. The other men watched their employer's retreating back, only to give a start and scramble as he shouted,

"Get back to work!" from over his shoulder.

The frigid man didn't know if he wanted to believe what had just happened. Just as he had escaped from that infernal Arkham Asylum, and was learning how to cope with the-hopefully temporary-loss of his cherished Nora, a shadow of his past had returned to haunt him.

_I thought she had been tucked away at a private college. _He mused, closely watching the woman's heart rate as the even, albeit slow, beeping of her heart resonated through the room. The only choice Freeze had had was to place her into a healing module and wait it out, to see if she would regain consciousness.

"Just as scrawny as I remember you." He sighed; the monitor was reporting a mere 120 pounds and a height of 5'6" for the twenty three year old.

_If she had a smaller build, it'd be fine, but she's too lanky. Nora would be fussing over her, the whole time. _The iceman smiled, at the thought, only for it to become bitter in his mouth as he felt the absence of his wife. He took to stewing and remembering the times they'd visit her family's beach house, where he and the small woman-a small girl, then-had first met each other.

She had called him "Uncle Victor," right from the start. She had always been a feisty little thing and he vaguely recalled her adventurous spirit ending her up in the emergency room, more than once.

Freeze's reminiscing was cut short when a buzzing signaled that the module was draining. To Freeze's mild surprise, his niece had already gotten shakily to her feet and was removing the plastic facemask from her head.

When the glass cylinder began to rise, however, she didn't seem so confident. She stumbled forward, once or twice, before noticing another presence in the room. The woman froze, eyes widening, then limped towards him faster than expected. Freeze would have thought to defend himself if not for the smile plastered to her face.

"Uncle Victor!" She cried, hugging him rather tightly, for someone her size. Freeze was extremely uncomfortable by the casual display of affection. He was confused enough concerning how his niece recognized him and that she didn't seem fazed by the hazardous cold radiating from him, so he didn't push the trembling thing away.

"It's good to see you, Elodie." He greeted, his strained voice showing his discomfort. Fortunately, Elodie noticed this and took a hasty step backwards, out of respect for her uncle.

"It's good to see you, too." Elodie replied, a little sadness in her eyes, even though she tried not to show it. They were both trying not to think about Nora, and the emotion it provoked seeped throughout the room, until Elodie provided a distraction.

"It's cold in here." She observed, suddenly noticing that her teeth were chattering and her fingertips were beginning to turn blue again. As if on cue, a clueless henchman wondered into the room, staring down at the clipboard in his hand.

"Boss, I-"

"Give me your jacket."

"What?" The man seemed confused as he looked from the small, shivering young woman, to the blue-skinned man who could have decided his fate in the next instant.

Said blue-skinned man narrowed his eyes at the incomprehensive underling and made a mental note to recruit more competent henchmen, sometime in the near future.

"Your jacket." He replied, his voice rumbling in an authoritative tone. Elodie frowned at the exchange; was her uncle bullying someone out of their jacket, just because he worked for him?

_It's not his fault Uncle Victor has this medical condition. _She huffed, about to ask the man to keep his jacket, when it was hurriedly shoved into her hands.

"Oh." Even though she knew it was wrong, the jacket was exceptionally warm, so Elodie was helpless to do anything besides put it on.

"Thank you!" She called to the retreating man, waving for emphasis, before turning and smiling at her uncle. For a moment, her smile diminished, taking some of the warmth of the room with it.

"I didn't interrupt your work, did I, Uncle?" The genuine concern in her voice almost made some of the ice chip away from Freeze's monotonous emotional shield. Almost.

"No, child, it's fine. What _I _want to know is how you ended up falling through my skylight." More color faded from Elodie's face as she took the nearest seat, feeling spent and unfocused.

The whole ordeal had her more shaken up than she was making known, but the young woman was determined to tell someone, sure that verbalizing what had happened would make her feel better.

"I was sleeping in my dorm room. I remember briefly waking up, before something hard hit me in the head and knocked me out. Where I woke up was slightly warmer than here, but I was suspended over a vat of freezing water. There was _ice _in the water, for Pete's sake.

Then that monster showed up and started asking me questions about you." She scrambled for words as her uncle's eyes narrowed angrily.

"I didn't tell him anything, I swear! Then, every time I refused to tell him anything, he dunked me into the vat. I don't know how or why I'm still alive; even the van they used to drive me here was refrigerated. I guess I'm just lucky that it's almost the summer." Freeze was growing increasingly angered as his niece recounted her first few hours in Gotham City.

_There are only a few big names in town that would resort to torture, but the refrigerated truck helps narrow it down. _The iceman turned his attention back to Elodie, who had wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the memory of freezing water. His main focus, at that very moment, was revenge.

"What did he look like, Elodie?" He asked, his voice cold and distant as anger heated his temperament. She shook her head, eyes widening, before standing to try to match gazes with him.

"He said he'd kill you, if I opened my mouth." She whispered with widened eyes, her tormented expression making her look even more horror-stricken. This mattered little to Freeze, right then, as anyone could see on his face. He usually didn't interfere with the other criminal masterminds of the city, but this was personal, which gave little room for discussion.

"I highly doubt he could. Now, unless you want me to put you on lock-down, until I find him myself, I suggest you tell me." Elodie knew that arguing with her uncle would be pointless. He was almost as stubborn as her Aunt Nora had been-almost-which meant she'd never win a verbal confrontation with him. Sighing quietly, Elodie nodded in peaceful submission, her anxiety slowly mounting.

"Well he was really short and round-" Freeze had already stepped into his cryo-suit, and had started for the door, when Elodie stepped into his way. There was little she could do, just then, but tagging along was one of them.

"Take me with you." She begged, clasping her hands together in a pleading gesture. She could see her uncle's reluctance to say no, even with his frigid demeanor, and placed her final blow strategically.

"Would you trust those guys out there with your favorite niece?" For some reason-maybe, because those emerald green puppy dog eyes had found a chink in his armor-he found himself agreeing with her.

_She's my _only _niece, and Nora would be irate, if I left her with those idiots. _What else could he do?

"If you put some proper clothes on, then you can _wait _in the truck." He instructed, grunting in surprise as she attacked him with another hug. Patting her back awkwardly, the iceman watched as Elodie ran off to scavenge for clothes, a yelp escaping her as she slipped and slid down the majority of the hall.

* * *

**So, this is my first fanfiction. Gulp. I wrote the first few chapters, maybe one or two years ago, but they were horrid and I had to clean them up. This is pretty much purely for fun, for me to write, so enjoy and stay tuned for the next update! Nothing much else to say, really.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or any of his rogue buddies. Sad face.  
**


	2. First Impressions

Elodie sat in the belly of her uncle's souped-up truck, not much minding the chilly air blowing at her through a vent, while appreciating her new clothing.

She had guilted a pair of blue jeans, extra thick socks, and work boots off of the smallest guy she had found at her uncle's secret base.

He also happened to be straight from Germany and had merely smiled and nodded when she had asked to borrow his things. She decided that she'd return everything, as soon as she was able to find clothes that she wouldn't be slipping out of.

_I'm not so sure about returning this jacket, though. It's _really _warm. _The young woman snapped herself out of her ponderings as the vehicle jolted to a stop. She glanced up solemnly at her uncle, feigning innocence as he raised a brow upon noticing that she'd torn thumb holes in the jacket.

"You're going to stay here, in this vehicle, the entire time that I'm gone. You will not leave the vehicle, no matter how 'bored' you get, or even if you hear something strange." He felt ridiculous lecturing a twenty-three year old about this, but Elodie had been overly curious in her childhood, and Freeze wasn't confident that she had changed in that aspect. His niece nodded up at him, a reassuring smile brightening her face from inside the gloomy interior of the car.

"I will not willingly leave this vehicle, unless it's seconds from exploding, or a giant missile is coming straight at it." Elodie scowled as her uncle just looked at her with a wary expression.

"C'mon, trust me! I'll be able to entertain myself until you get back." Freeze nodded, still unsure, but decided that his rather conspicuous transportation would start to attract unwanted attention from a certain vigilante.

"If I find that you've left this vehicle, you're staying on lockdown, the entire time you're here." With that last promise, Freeze jumped out onto the sidewalk in front of a rundown building and made a beeline for the nearest dark alley.

The florescent glow from his suit provided him with enough light to see the door partially hidden behind wooden crates. He didn't hesitate to rip it off its hinges and step inside.

More darkness greeted the iceman, but he could see the distant flicker of light from beneath the door at the end of the hall. He also made little work of that door and immediately surveyed the occupants of the smoke filled room. There were four others in the room, besides himself, none of which he was on good terms with.

At the long rectangular table in the center of the room, to his left, Poison Ivy lounged with her elbows propped on the wooden surface. Bane, of course, was standing guard behind her. Freeze barely paid any attention to the redhead in the green suit, to his right, because his attention was trained on the obese, balding, man seated at the center of the table. The man's lips curled into a sneering grin.

"Well, look what the snowplow dragged in. How ya' doing, Snowman? What have you been up to in that lab of yours?" The Penguin's taunting questions affected him very little, as Freeze was trying to burn holes into the birdbrained villain with his glacial blue eyes.

"Everything was fine, until you decided to stir the waters." The fowl like man cocked his head to the side in false curiosity while the two redheads made partial attempts not to appear as if they were eavesdropping.

"How have I done that? You seem angry, Freeze. Is this a _personal _matter?" The iceman did his best to recompose himself; it would only fuel the Penguin's reasons to gossip to other ill meaning individuals about any family ties he had with Elodie. She'd be hounded, all over Gotham, until she left.

"No," he dismissed sharply, "but I don't intend on letting your loose-lipped chatter slide. Why were you interrogating my lab assistant?" He had decided that it would be a good cover for her, seeing as he'd be keeping a close eye on the young woman. The Penguin looked rather skeptical of Freeze's bluff.

"What was your 'lab assistant' doing in a college dorm, three states over?" Freeze had had enough; he brought his leg down on the table, snapping it in two, before walking over the debris to confront the guilty man, face to face. He stuck his freeze-ray up to the short man's nose, for emphasis, before countering the prying man's questions.

"I should be the one asking questions, birdbrain. Tell me why you took the girl." Mr. Cobblepot seemed to be the only one in the room to know of his actions. The Riddler seemed puzzled, Poison Ivy seemed disinterested, and Bane was nowhere to be seen. The accused smirked up at the frozen juggernaut.

"I keep my friends close and my enemies closer," the bird replied casually, "And the pretty little 'lab assistants' of my enemies even closer." In one sudden movement, Freeze grabbed the pompous man by his shirt collar and hauled him up against the nearest wall.

The answers he had received told him nothing and he was growing increasingly irritated. He set his freeze gun against the Penguin's forehead, about to fire, when a series of angry screaming flowed into the room.

"Let go of me, you big oaf! Do you not understand me? Put. Me. Down!" Whoever had a hold of the woman listened to her demands; a little too well, it seemed. Her small body came crashing through the entryway and landed on what was left of the table.

Elodie clutched her head and sat up, a groan of pain tearing from her. Bane then shortly entered the room and, as if to explain himself, grunted a single word.

"Spy." Elodie, who had been struggling to stand herself up, suddenly sprung to her feet.

"Liar!" She countered, flinching as her hand brushed up against a gash on her forehead. "I was _inside _the car when you broke the window and _pulled _me _out._"

As if suddenly realizing they weren't the only two there, Elodie turned to look at the others in the room, eyes widening curiously.

_Why are they wearing costumes? _She wondered. Her attention first fluttered over to the woman the muscle head had taken post behind, then centered on the man with the green mask, who was intently returning her curious gaze. Her eyes then traveled and widened at the sight of her uncle holding a gun to the man who had tried to torture information out of her.

"Un-uh-Mr. Fries!" Freeze gave an inward sigh of relief. She had caught her uncle's warning look and had acted just in time, even though she had used his actual name. The pronunciation was exactly the same, though, so no one would be the wiser.

Elodie glanced at the strangers in the room. The redheaded woman looked suspicious, but the man in the green suit covered in question marks seemed to be in the process of placing the pieces together. She gulped and continued her charade with a serious expression.

"He _ambushed _me." She summed up, glaring over at the mask clad muscle head. Bane nodded in agreement, only to shake his head as he realized what she had said, promptly ending the argument.

"Bane, you dunce." Poison Ivy muttered into her arm, obviously laying low, anxiety overcoming her from the last encounter with her ex cellmate.

The young woman smiled victoriously but otherwise remained silent and waited for her uncle to give her his next set of instructions.

She was out of her element and didn't want to risk saying anything more to attract attention to herself. The others seemed to follow Elodie's example and both Penguin and Freeze took notice of the sudden silence.

"Go wait in the car." Freeze ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. Elodie nodded, but as she turned to leave, the Riddler caught sight of a mischievous glint in her eye.

_Hm, what sneaking around are you planning, mystery girl? _He might have thought of the consequences of sneaking around, himself, but once Edward Nygma's mind was made up, he went through with his plan. The redhead waited a few minutes, allowing the two hardheads to get into a heated "debate" (i.e. screaming match), before slipping out of the room.

* * *

Twirling his infamous question mark cane with a flourish, the Riddler began the chase, listening closely for any sign of footfalls or breathing. He couldn't have gotten any luckier when the sound of metal banging together and quiet cursing sounded from the first door to his right. He crept carefully towards the open door and peered in, a confident smirk on his face.

"Got 'cha."

Elodie had taken the time to find a vent that connected to the room her uncle was still having his "discussion" with the Penguin in. Currently, she was balanced on a lidless trashcan, her feet planted firmly on the rim of the can.

She was doing her best to stay silent and listen for any important information, but when her foot had slipped and sent the metal lid of the trashcan flying, she had been certain she had been found out. The sound of things being broken in the other room never ceased, though, and Elodie realized that a herd of elephants wouldn't have been able to break up the two men's fight.

"Men." She lamented, still content to listen to all the name-calling and threats exchanged in the other room. Just as she was becoming used to the echoing voices and the distant sound of things crashing into one another, a closer and much more composed voice snapped Elodie out of her comfort zone.

"Riddle me this: What _are _you doing?" The young woman gasped and lost her footing on her homemade stepstool, teetering backwards and fighting to remain upright, before landing hard on her backside against the concrete floor.

"Ouch." She muttered, certain that she had broken or bruised something, then turned to identify the face that the voice belonged to.

"Oh." The young woman looked as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Elodie stood to brush herself off, stalling, before letting an embarrassed laugh slip from her.

"Nothing's making much sense to me, right now, so I'm trying to see what tidbits of information I can find out by eavesdropping." She stated, upfront in admitting that she was sneaking around, yet stating it as if it was the most natural thing to do.

The naivety the young woman displayed, even concerning her own misbehavior, was an instant tipoff that she had been shielded from any form of ne'er-do-well in her lifetime. This peaked Nygma's interest a little more than it should have.

_I wonder how long it would take to better inform her._ He mused, becoming more interested in who the girl actually was.

_There's no way she's a lab assistant. _He decided, realizing that she had been staring at him, patiently waiting for him to finish doing his impersonation of The Thinker. She smiled patiently before continuing.

"I'm still a little numb from nearly being frozen to death. Mr. Fries still hasn't explained to me why we had to come here, but I'll leave it alone, since it's most likely a testosterone thing." Elodie rolled her eyes at the image of her uncle and the Penguin trying to puff up their chests more than the other.

"But…" The Riddler leaned forward, irritated that the blonde-haired woman had paused, and determined to know what she was about to say.

"But?" He prompted, drawling the word out so that she cast him a funny look.

"But he's hiding things from me. It's very, err…unprofessional. Call it intuition, or whatever, but he's lying by omission. Do you want to help me listen in?" She looked so excited by the prospect of doing something dishonest that the Riddler felt the need to waste a little of his valuable time on her. He followed her lead as she returned to her place on top of the trashcan and leaned in towards her to assure he could hear the conversation in the other room.

"I _would_ offer any information I had, if I had any, but I never bothered with those lame ducks." He was _obviously _above caring about such counterproductive losers, which turned out to be a bad thing, since he wasn't able to turn information back on the frigid man or the slimy bird. Elodie nodded in understanding, a little offended that he had called her uncle a lame duck, but wasn't at the liberty to say anything negative to the man in green.

_I might find something useful-about all three of them; especially this charming little thing. _He turned to get a good look at Elodie, but she was on her tiptoes with her eyes squinting into the vent, as if she could will the noises to be louder-not that they could _be _any louder.

Her green eyes were bright, and without the taint of sin typically seen in the average Gothamite's, despite the room's poor lighting. There were dirt smears and windburn on her porcelain white face and pieces of road salt in her chin length hair. She looked as though she could be easily broken and the light lilt in her voice didn't give her any tough guy credit, either.

_Hm, she'd be fairly impressive arm candy at a party. _If it was possible, Nygma leaned further in so that his shoulder brushed against her. Elodie noticed the contact and side glanced at the redhead. An alarmingly bright smile crossed Nygma's face and Elodie started to worry that his cheeks would crack.

_What an odd man. _She mused, sighing in disappointment, as she heard nothing but mudslinging between the men in the other room. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Elodie gave up.

She followed the increasingly impatient man's lead and became incredibly startled as he caught her by the waist, holding her for longer than necessary, before setting her down with a cheeky grin. A cold shiver shot down her spine and she silently cursed as her cheeks heated up, despite herself.

_He's not _bad _looking_-_no! No, no girl crushes on men who conceal their identity. Hiding your face means you have something else to hide. _She took a tentative step back with a nervous half smile on her face.

"I should be leaving-" With only a few movements, the Riddler jumped directly into her path of retreat, grasping her chin to turn her to look into his eyes.

"Ah tut tut." He chided, wagging his cane at her in reproachful disappointment. "You can't leave until you answer this one. Little. Question." The young woman's anxiety spiked at the condition he gave her. She squirmed nervously as he hovered by her face, then reluctantly nodded, figuring he'd let go if she did. She was rather disappointed, though, when that wasn't at all the case. His hazel eyes bore into hers relentlessly.

"What's your name? No fibbing; I'll know if you do." She was both relieved and worried at the simple request. She let a small smile tug at her lips.

"Elodie." She said, the telltale clomping sound of her uncle's cryo-suit making her eyes widen significantly.

"And I'm sure I'll learn _your _name later, but right now I have to make it to the vehic-the truck, before _he _does, if I don't want to be on lockdown for the rest of my life." With one last unsure departing smile directed at the green clad man, Elodie turned and sprinted down the hall, careful to make her footfalls as quiet as possible.

* * *

The Riddler was left to stand there, hand still suspended where he had held the small woman's face. His mind buzzed rapidly as he leaned on his cane in thought.

"Elodie…Melody! A darling name for a charming girl. There must be a song for such a name; perhaps of unrequited love? She didn't even ask me what my name is!" Although he was pouting about it, the Riddler felt a slight flutter of inspiration in his chest, anticipating the next time the two would meet. And they _would _meet again.

_That is, if she's not caught by that brutish yeti. _He fretted, acting on the idea that came to him, even before it was fully formed.

He hustled out of the room and came face to face with the iceman, the coy expression he put on making him seem completely interested in learning what had happened in the meeting room.

"What was that all about, hm?" Mr. Freeze didn't seem at all amused. He turned and continued down the hall without saying a word. The Riddler wasn't about to give up. He ran to slide in front of the blue man and tapped his cane against the armored chest in mock offense.

"Don't go giving me the cold shoulder, now. I just want to know what happened." He drawled in a purposely-irritating manner. He knew he'd accomplished his goal when the other man shoved him into a wall and froze his mouth shut.

"It's none of your concern, question mark boy." Freeze sneered, checking the power level on his suit, before storming down the hall and disappearing out of the building. If the redhead could have moved his lips, he would have smiled.

_Worth it. _

* * *

__**I had nothing to do, besides edit this today, so here's another chapter. Let me know what you think?  
**


	3. Propositions Abound

**Here's chapter three. Enjoy!**

* * *

"What happened to you?" Freeze asked, suspicion evident in his voice as he took in the scrapes and cuts on Elodie's face and arms. The truth was that the car had been locked and she hadn't had enough time to carefully slip into the gap in the glass.

_I wonder what took Uncle Victor so long to get outside. _She pondered, outwardly frowning as she answered his question.

"That muscle head threw me harder than I thought." She muttered sullenly, starting to hate herself for the constant lying she'd been forced to do. Her uncle nodded but otherwise didn't comment. Elodie's guilt only increased and a tight knot formed in her stomach.

Mr. Freeze pulled into the hidden garage attached to his base and the two entered the building. Elodie could feel the adrenaline draining from her veins and she caught herself swooning from exhaustion.

"Uncle Victor? I need to rest; I feel faint…" The iceman nodded; he never really slept anymore, but having to deal with those insufferable idiots tired even him out.

"Follow me." He instructed, moving down a separate hallway from the main section of the rundown ice cream factory. He had reserved a room that remained at a regular temperature, in the event that he found a cure for his dear Nora.

He reluctantly decided that it would be bad if Elodie were to get hypothermia; his wife would have offered the room, herself, if she'd been there. Freeze stopped in front of the room and stiffly gestured for his niece to enter.

"Here; just don't make a mess of the place." The small woman nodded, eager to warm up underneath the thick blankets laid down on the bed. With a burst of gratitude, Elodie leapt up to hug her uncle. She couldn't help it-she was naturally affectionate, just like her mother and her aunt.

"Thank you for everything. Good night." Well aware that he had a difficult time with displays of affection, Elodie smiled warmly at him, before resigning to the pleasantly warm room.

He remained silent, but the ice man had decided a few things: One, he would protect his niece, at all costs, and two, he needed to get her out of Gotham, as soon as possible. He did _not _like the attention-malevolent or otherwise-the Penguin and the Riddler were paying Elodie.

Especially the Riddler; he had gathered that the meddling redhead had diverted him so Elodie could sneak back to the truck. That meant that the two had been talking, and who knew what he had told her, or what she had told him. His niece had been sheltered and taught to think the best of people. She wouldn't survive a week in the city.

_It could also be contagious. Those two aren't the worst ones out there._ With that thought lingering in the back of his mind, Freeze returned to his laboratory, needing something to keep himself occupied.

* * *

The Riddler hadn't stopped pestering the Penguin since Freeze had left. He refused to leave, and every time the balding man had thrown him out, he'd find a way to sneak back in.

"Come now, Cobblepot, just tell me who she really _is_!" The redhead pleaded, but then snapped himself out of his pathetic whining, because he was the _Riddler _and the Riddler did not _plead _with anyone.

"Now." He seethed, his sudden change of demeanor not very well hiding the fact that he was acting like a child throwing a tantrum. The Penguin was well aware of this and sneered while laughing condescendingly at the younger man.

"Why are you so interested in the girl, Riddler? Does somebody have a _crush?" _The green clad man became livid at such an accusation. He started to walk briskly around the room in a semicircle, twirling his cane furiously while he did so.

"Absolutely not! You would have to be a simpleminded feather duster to ever come up with such a preposterous idea. Which, in fact, you are." He scoffed, glancing over his shoulder at an unconvinced Penguin. He grumbled internally, kicked at a chunk of the demolished table, and then spun back on the short man.

"She lied to me! I will not rest, until I solve this puzzle, so you'd better give me something to work with, if you want to get rid of me." The proposition was tempting, and the older man was beginning to feel the oncoming's of a headache, so he grudgingly complied with the Riddler's terms.

"It's her second year of college and she's a dance major. Now, get out." Tipping his hat mockingly, the Riddler left the room in a great display, waiting until he exited the building to jump up and down victoriously.

_At last; a clue that will lead to the truth about that duplicitous girl. She thinks she can fool me? Ha! I am the _master _of leaving clues behind for others to follow. A novice would never be able to best me._ With the reassuring thought in mind, Nygma dutifully bounded off to do a little research.

* * *

Elodie slid happily along the ice covered floor, content with what she was doing, while still determined to keep her uncle company as he worked. She hadn't verbalized her presence or anything else, for that matter, but Freeze had snorted in acknowledgement when she had landed on her backside for the third time. She had only smiled and continued to practice her figure eight's. Any type of balance practice would help with her dancing and she already felt guilty that she had missed three days of training.

_There was that one day with that penguin freak, half a day with me in that tank, practically another half talking to that redheaded guy and waiting out Uncle Victor's beat-down on the penguin freak, and now today. Kathy's going to kill me when I get back. _The blonde-haired woman fretted, her head hurting from the thought of all the spotting practice her instructor was going to put her through, once she returned to the university.

_That, or she'll make me practice the third arabesque in front of the class. _Shivering for reasons not because of the cold, Elodie slid to a stop by her uncle's work desk, the constant sound of cracking ice and humming high-powered air conditioning being the only other sounds in the room.

"Who was that weird guy? I mean-the really excited one." She asked, the thought having bothered her, since she had woken up that morning.

She'd had a full range of vibrant nightmares, varying from drowning in freezing waters to being decapitated by a question mark shaped sickle, and had woken up screaming when a pair of hazel eyes and the sound of crazed laughter appeared out of nowhere. She had dismissed any worry, once she had truly woken up, but the way her uncle stiffened at the mention of the strange man had her wondering if she was wrong.

"Why would you want to know who he is?" Freeze asked through clenched teeth, his stern tone discouraging Elodie's inquiry. However, Elodie was determined to place a name to the source of her bad dreams. She wasn't about to give up.

"He just looks like a person I should know the name of. You know, in case I have to fill out any police reports, anytime in the future." Her reason was as good as any other, but Elodie couldn't help feeling another wave of remorse wash over her from all the white lies she'd been making.

_What's wrong with me? I haven't lied this much since I was eighteen. Uncle Victor's going to think that I'm still an immature child._

"He calls himself the Riddler. Don't go anywhere near him; he is a very dangerous idiot." Elodie raised a brow at her uncle's wording. "Dangerous" and "idiot" didn't seem to fit together at all, but he had been in Gotham much longer than she had, so she took his word for it.

"Oh, alright then, I won't." She assured him, hoping that those words wouldn't turn out to be another lie. "I'm going to grab something for lunch. Do you want anything?" Her uncle grunted a negative and Elodie couldn't help but roll her eyes; she'd bring him something a little later.

"See you in a bit, then." She bid, slipping out of the room and out to the front room, taking note that most of the men there were either shivering too hard to move or feebly trying to play a game of cards or checkers.

_They must not have awesomely warm jackets like this one. _She decided, sliding over to the nearest henchman with an undefeatable smile on her face.

"Hey, Firn, I promise to get these clothes back to you as soon as possible. Do you know where the kitchen is?" She asked, pretending to bite into something and rubbing her stomach in satisfaction. Firn nodded and stood, seeming to be less frozen than his coworkers, as he shuffled towards a set of double doors in the back of the room.

Elodie followed, aware of the fact that most of the men in the room were watching her curiously, but simply smiled in a friendly manner.

She stepped through the swinging doors after Firn and realized that the room was nothing but metal doors that led to refrigerators and freezers. There wasn't an oven or a microwave to be seen.

"You can, ah…have use of this one." Firn muttered, unsure of his wording but still being friendly towards the young woman. Elodie smiled, not having been aware that Firn was as fluent in English as he was.

"Thanks, Firn." She said, cracking the fridge open and peering inside. Much to her surprise, the majority of its content was fruits and vegetables, along with an abundance of other assorted health food.

_My kind of fridge. _Elodie thought happily, grabbing a few ingredients, before setting to work.

* * *

As the blonde girl finally made it to her guest bedroom, her neck sweaty despite the cold, she found herself relieved to be in her own company.

She had been struggling to get back, but the henchmen had been begging her to make them replicas of her lunch, which she did due to her being a pushover. Then she ran a plate over to her uncle and almost toppled over, several times, while doing so.

Now she was finally left to her own thoughts and her chicken salad stuffed tomato. She moved over to the saucer shaped chair by the only window in the room and suddenly realized the view she had of the rooftop garden across the street.

"There's a surprise around every corner," she muttered into her fork-full of food. A strange sense of serenity was settling in around her, and Elodie felt herself relaxing into it, until a loud bang ripped her right back out. She stood and placed her plate on the bedside table to peer out of the window.

The top of an alarmingly familiar bowler hat was just out of her line of vision. She drew back from the window, startled, wondering why the man known as the Riddler was crazy or stupid enough to climb up to her fourth story window. She was determined to listen to her uncle's warning but felt another wave of mischief drench her.

Smiling to herself, she knelt down, only her eyes and above visible from outside the window. She waited for just the right moment, when his hazel eyes peered into the room, before half whispering "Boo!" Her mischievous mood vanished altogether, however, when a surprised sound escaped the redhead and he disappeared from view.

Elodie let out a gasp and threw open the window to stick her head outside. She half expected a red and green stain on the sidewalk below, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving her frazzled and confused. She moved out of the window more as her heart thundered in her chest from the thought that she had killed a man.

"Are you there?" She called with her voice and hands shaking a little. When no reply came, Elodie became frantic as her eyes scanned the area beneath the window. She eventually slumped against the windowsill in defeat and buried her face in her hands.

"I killed a man; I'm going to burn in Hell because I couldn't restrain myself from playing a prank." Her words were muffled, but anyone could hear her pitiful voice from close by.

Suddenly, the creaking of metal made her head snap up. The gleam of a gold cane met her face to face. She glanced down slightly and saw that the Riddler had reappeared, seemingly from nowhere.

"It isn't often that I have pretty girls crying over me." He snickered, the compliment making Elodie turn pink. She was so overcome with relief, however, that she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into the room.

The man in green was surprised that such a small person could haul his lanky form up so easily, but when she started to pat his face to make sure he was still there, he forgot his surprise.

"What were you thinking, when you decided to climb up to a fourth story window, you idiot? Gravity still works, as of today, in case you were wondering." She sighed and stood herself up, then paused, before rushing towards the door and inconspicuously shutting it.

The underlying concern in her voice was enough for Nygma to ignore the fact that she'd called him an idiot. He calmly stood and brushed himself off, towering over Elodie, even while leaning on his cane.

"Well, you ran off so suddenly that we didn't have the opportunity to finish our conversation. _You _have been lying by omission, which may as well be the same as leaving me a riddle." He looked at Elodie with a quirked brow and a crooked half-smile.

"I don't ever walk away from a riddle, until it's solved." This time, Elodie moved quickly enough to avoid her face being captured in his grip again.

The college student felt her stomach lurch nervously. It wasn't that he was directly menacing, as far as she could tell, but the possibility of the villain becoming enamored with her sent the blonde's mind reeling.

_I can't tell him, because I can't expose Uncle Victor's secrets, but he won't leave me alone until I do. This will end badly. _She returned his gaze with a furrowed brow.

"I'm not answering any direct questions about Mr. Fries, if that's what you're after." She stated bluntly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her borrowed jacket to show that she would not budge on the matter. The Riddler rolled his eyes and took a step forward, which Elodie counteracted by taking a step back, now on the defensive.

"Puh-lease, the Freeze Miser has already had his five minutes of fame; he's washed up. Now, _you_…you're new-and different. Not a damsel in distress; more like explosives waiting to go off. I don't want to be the poor sucker who sets _you_ off." The redhead turned to glance over his shoulder, and then turned back, head tilted to the side.

"Or, maybe I do?" Elodie snorted and distractedly picked up a snow globe from the nearby dresser. She needed to divert the oncoming blush about to be released and found staring into the gloomy globe the perfect distraction.

It was a scene of a snow-covered Gotham. The style of the tiny hand-crafted buildings were indeed very Gothic and little icicles hung from the rooftops. Elodie didn't have to wonder why her uncle had it in the room meant for her aunt. Victor Fries' world would be covered in ice until he and Nora were reunited. She gave it a half-hearted shake then set it down.

"I have a feeling that my timer's not ready to go off, yet. Besides, I won't be here long enough for you to try." She froze when she heard his footsteps, and was about to turn to confront the Riddler about violating her personal space, then stiffened when his hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"I said, I don't walk away from a riddle, once I begin to solve it." He whispered into her ear, the sound sending an unpleasant wave of panic shooting up her spine.

"This condition also goes the other way. I'll be keeping an eye on _you, _so don't think to wander too far off." Elodie felt her chest tighten in discomfort and was still bothered that the Riddler didn't seem to have any space boundaries. She had a feeling that he was purposely doing it.

_Maybe, if I turn it around on him, he'll back down. _She pondered, a smirk just barely making an appearance on her face. She grabbed his hand off her shoulder and captured it in both of hers while turning towards him. Then, casting him one of her most dazzling smiles, she internally laughed, triumphant, as a look of surprise slipped across the villain's face.

"You don't expect me to blurt out every truth, all at the same time, do you? You'll have to work on finding the answer. Isn't that what riddles are all about? Being given the answer is just like cheating." Elodie nearly jumped out of her skin as the Riddler recaptured both her hands in his.

"Don't have so little faith in me, darling." He pouted and pressed their hands to his chest. The small woman's hands began to shake while she mentally scorned herself for not being more assertive.

"I'd like for this relationship of ours to revolve around trust."

Trust_ that I _will_ figure out just what you're hiding. _Another grin slipped across the eager man's face. He knew very well that he had control of the situation, even with one of the city's strongest villains in the same building, fully willing to protect the girl Nygma had set his sights on. He returned his attention to said girl, who looked too shocked to open her mouth, for the moment. He decided to test her mental resolution, and bat her around a little more, before he would take his leave. He leaned in so that they were eyelevel with each other.

"Riddle me this: Two words is my answer. In order to keep me, you have to give me. What am I?" If Elodie had had the freedom to move her arms, it would have been her turn to do her impersonation of The Thinker. She felt that she would have to at least attempt the riddle-though, she had always been terrible at the more complex ones-if she wanted to distract the cantankerous man from continuously invading her space.

_Two words, which I have to give, in order to keep. _The gears in her head purposefully continued to spin, until she came up with several possibilities, picking the one that seemed like it made the most sense.

"My word?" She guessed and cringed as his face brightened. They had only met on two different instances and Elodie already knew that the Riddler smiling like he was only led to trouble.

"Exactly. Will you?" The young woman had no idea what he was talking about. He seemed to jump from thought to thought like a frog would do with lily pads.

"Will I what?" The masked man sighed overdramatically.

"Give me your word, silly girl. Something that does not break when dropped-a promise. Will you make one, for me?"

_No!_ Blared in Elodie's head like a siren. She took promises very seriously and practically had to follow through with any vows she took.

_He seems to have done his homework. Damn my country upbringing! _She growled quietly and tried to pull away, spiteful towards him for having her backed into a corner- both physically and metaphorically. She shot a frustrated look at the Riddler, who met it with a confident smirk.

"Only if you give me your word, in return." She said through a tensed jaw, ripping out of his grip. She made to move around him, but the redhead was utterly unfazed as he gracefully swept her back up, his hands once again finding hers.

"Of course, darling, just tell me what I'm promising." The young woman caught herself smiling through her annoyance. She was battling her natural trust in people, but was continuously being disarmed by the Riddler's glittering charm and smile.

_He probably practices in the mirror. _The thought helped, but she knew that she had to distance herself, unless she wanted to wander right into his trap.

Elodie straightened and tried to retreat, but the redhead followed right along, the two looking as if they were dancing a forced waltz. She stopped, annoyed, but continued to even out her temper.

"Promise to help me find out what Mr. Fries is really being involved with."

_She has her own riddle to solve, hm? This could be to my advantage, but then again…_

Nygma was hesitant, for about half a second, before coming up with his own terms.

"A hint for a hint: I tell you one fact about him, and you tell me one fact about you."

"Deal." She couldn't help it; the man in green was her only outside source to learn the truth about her uncle. He released one of her hands, only to bend down and place a kiss on the other one. Elodie felt the color drain from her face; she felt like she was signing her soul away.

"Deal." He agreed, straightening up and flipping the top of his cane open, which displayed an array of blinking lights and small red buttons.

"This has been fun; we'll do it again, sometime. Now, let's preserve the moment! Smile!" A blinding flash of light went off and Elodie found herself stumbling into the same dresser that held the snow globe.

"What the hell?" She yelled, stumbling backwards into the nearest door with the doorknob digging into her back. She grunted in pain and rubbed her eyes to clear her vision.

By the time she could properly see, he-along with her barely touched lunch-was gone.

_What a crook, s_he thought sourly, but sighed in relief that he was gone.

No sooner did she breathe a sigh of relief did a loud rapping noise come from the other side of the door.

"Elodie?" A frigid voice called. Elodie jumped at hearing her uncle's voice, ran to slam shut and lock the window, then rushed to open the door. For some reason unknown by the young woman, her uncle was in his cryo-suit, so she stepped aside to let him in.

"Why were you yelling? The boys said they heard voices in here." The young woman felt her stomach lurch at the next bout of lies she had to spew at her uncle. He'd bar the windows, or put her on the next train home, if she confessed that the Riddler had practically sexually assaulted and blinded her in the sanctity of her uncle's own hideout.

"I had the radio on, earlier, and I accidentally got soap in my eye when I was washing my hands. I'm sorry if I distracted you from your work." As she spoke, the iceman busied himself with searching every crevice of the room-including under the bed-for any intruders or evidence that someone else had been there.

_It _is _a forth story window, after all. It's highly unlikely that Elodie would be lying about it, even if someone managed to get all the way up here. _With a tired sigh, Freeze turned to leave, pausing as Elodie took an urgent step forward.

_I can't keep doing this to him. Aunt Nora would be devastated. What if I fall out of his good graces? All because of some criminal that insists on snooping around in my personal matters. _She stared at her uncle, stuck at the crossroads of her ultimatum, and then faked a yawn.

"I was going to rest for a while. Maybe you should do the same. You won't be able to think straight, preforming all those tests, if your body's fatigued." He could see his niece's point, but was too close to discovering a possible antidote to stop, just then.

"I will shortly. You _should _rest; you look flushed." Elodie's eyes widened at her uncle's observation. She touched her face, as a reflex, but then abruptly brought her hand down.

"I should, shouldn't I? Well, I don't want to be too ill to bug you in the lab." She smiled at the over serious man.

"Rest well, Uncle Victor." He nodded and took his leave, giving Elodie the privacy to collapse onto a heap on the bed.

"Now that that's over…" She was still hungry, but venturing back to the kitchen would have looked too conspicuous, so she decided she would take a nap. After shutting the blinds and turning the lights off, Elodie stumbled back over to the bed and settled herself comfortably, a spent weariness overwhelming her senses. While blocking out all thoughts of men in green suits, Elodie let her eyes flutter shut, hoping for a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman. If I did, there would be a whole lot more Nigma/Nygma/Nashton in it!**

**Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Until next time!  
**


	4. Bitter Tidings

Elodie took her own sweet time waking up. She had 8 o'clock classes, four days of the week, so waking up after then was a simply sublime thing to her.

With a stretch and a yawn, she rose to her feet, blindly stumbling into the en suite bathroom. When she came back out to see a strange man standing by her bed, she jumped and grabbed the nearest blunt object-namely the snow globe-to defend herself with.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked sternly, feeling a little ridiculous when the man raised his hands to show that he was unarmed.

Elodie lowered her weapon but still expectantly stared at him as she awaited an answer. The man, whose arms were still raised, smiled at the frazzled woman in a reassuring manner.

"Sleet; The boss thought you'd want to buy some clothes that actually fit you, if you're up for it, and told me to be your escort." Elodie heaved a sigh of relief and set the snow globe down. She took a quick assessment of her appearance and came to the conclusion that she looked like a street urchin.

"That'd be nice." She agreed while hiking up her borrowed jeans. Despite the similarities in body structure she had with the kind man, Firn, she was still smaller at the hips and about three inches shorter than he was.

"Sorry about that whole…" She gestured towards the snow globe. "I'm a little on edge from what's happened." Sleet waved her apology away, possibly understanding.

"C'mon, then, we're burning daylight." Elodie nodded and smiled at the odd wording he used. She wondered where he had moved from and why he had come to work for her uncle.

She kept silent, however, to keep backup conversation in case an awkward silence fell between the two. She walked beside Sleet, feeling confident in the next few hours.

~.~

* * *

Elodie hopped out of the train and started excitedly out of the subway station that bled into Gotham's Main Street. She'd never been to a city as big as this and the skyscrapers and enormous billboards were thrilling to her.

"C'mon, Sleet, you're too slow!" She called back, oblivious to the fact that people were more willing to let her pass and more liable to glare and shout insults at her travel companion.

Elodie's excitement only grew when they reached the sidewalk leading to the majority of stores in all of Gotham. She wasn't a "girly girl," by any means, but couldn't help feeling anxious to wear clothes meant for women.

She shot into the nearest store, grabbed up the first pair of jeans and shirt she saw, and scuttled into the changing room.

Sleet stood awkwardly outside her stall, his orders being to stay within a ten-foot radius of Elodie, at all times.

"Hey, Sleet?" Her voice called from the other side of the door.

"Uh, yeah?" His brow quirked as a pair of jeans were slung over said door, Elodie's hand rested on the wood frame.

"Can you get me these in a size seven? They're over by that display of knockoff Gucci purses." Sleet stared incredulously at the hand; was he a body guard or a sales clerk?

Grunting something along the lines of "yeah," he grabbed the pair hanging, threw them into the return pile, and stumbled over to the nearest rack to grab the first size seven he could find.

_Close enough._ He decided, making his way back to the changing room and throwing the jeans into the stall.

"These aren't the same!" Elodie protested, but paused in the middle of her rant, the door swinging open to reveal a triumphant young woman. The shirt she wore was elbow length at the sleeves.

Said sleeves were black, while the rest of the shirt was white, the front having a graphic design of two ice cubes with faces and the words "Kiss my ice" in bold black letters. The jeans, unlike the hole-ridden example she'd picked, were a solid, navy blue, boot cut.

"They _are _more comfortable." She admitted, grabbing Firn's things and the jacket, and padded barefooted over to the shoe section. She slipped on a pair of black ballet flats and immediately nodded in approval.

"Done! Now, where's the cash register?" Elodie went to move to the back of the store, price tags in hand, only to be stopped by her "escort." She looked at Sleet, confused, her brow furrowed in questioning.

"Don't worry about it; we have store credit here. They'll just put it on our tab." Elodie didn't believe him for a minute.

She glanced around and noted all the people on the other side of the store. None of them seemed to know about this "store credit," or they wouldn't have been waiting in the substantially long line at the register. She shook her head while stepping around him.

"Shouldn't we tell them how much all of this is, then?" Sleet didn't seem too happy about Elodie's reasoning, but went along with it, not wanting to make a big scene.

_The boss had better reimburse me for paying out of pocket. _He thought sullenly, his shoulders slumping as the two waited at the back of the slow moving line.

It only took about eight minutes, but as the two finally approached the front of the line, neither of them were very pleased. The store's air conditioning was broken and it was a sweltering ninety degrees Fahrenheit outside.

The polite smile Elodie cast the cashier was a little demure and Sleet impatiently slapped three twenty dollar bills down onto the counter as she rung them up. Then, when the poor woman asked if they wanted a store credit card, Elodie had to hold Sleet back from biting her head off.

"Thank you!" She called, towing the taller man through the front glass doors. They disappeared around the corner before the welcome chime sounded.

_._._

* * *

The awkward duo sat on a bench set back slightly on the sidewalk, one staring up at the enormous billboard for a new product by Wayne Enterprises and the other looking off into the molasses paced traffic that came with the 4 o'clock rush hour.

The next train wouldn't arrive for another ten minutes and the two were left in a bout of uncomfortable silence.

Sleet had told Elodie about Freeze's decision to send her back to her university while they had been walking to the station. She looked a little sullen, but had said that she understood, ever the loyal niece.

"Why the long face, Flurry? I thought you'd be happy to get back to your sheltered dorm life." Sleet observed, using the nickname most of the guys back at the base has come to know her by.

It was actually quite fitting, especially since she had taken to practicing her skating in the front room, flurrying from one side of the base to the other in a matter of minutes.

The young woman rolled her eyes but smiled at his lame joke, knowing that it had been his goal to cheer her up.

"'Sheltered,' he says. 'Perpetual' is more like it; everything I've learned from there is from repeating the motions, until I dream them in my sleep. Being kidnapped by a major criminal and reunited with someone I've missed for so long is the most exciting thing that's happened to me in the past two years." The sincerity in her voice was so apparent that Sleet began to worry about her.

_She wouldn't last five minutes out here without someone to guide her. _As if on cue, the train station's intercom system announced the next arrival to be in one minute.

The two got up and slid through the doors of the station, neither of them obligated to say anything as they moved onto the designated platform and waited behind the yellow safety line. Just as the train began to pull up, spilling passengers onto the platform, Elodie broke the silence.

"I've had a lot of fun. I got to ride in two different refrigerated trucks and played word games with a man in a green suit. Meeting the lot of you goofballs goes without saying." She laughed as a series of bells went off; signaling for passengers to board the train, and even Sleet caught himself smiling.

"I guess I'll just have to visit during the next break I get. The stubborn mule needs to learn what the word 'break' means. Aunt Nora would be cross with him, if she ever found out how hard he's been working himself."

Elodie hopped aboard and turned to wave, but her smile faded a little when she saw a startlingly familiar pair of hazel eyes among the crowd behind Sleet.

She stood there, frozen with her mind suspended in midair, then gasped when the doors slid shut directly in front of her.

"Bye!" She called, but the sound was muffled, and then the train spirited her away.

~.~

Edward Nygma was-sort of-in denial. He knew that his eyes were functioning perfectly fine as he watched his charmed little charmer board the train and as the train sped away.

He was also sure that he saw the destination of the train, which was some town in the middle of nowhere that he'd never heard of.

_She's a country girl, with morals, to boot. I also could have _sworn_ she had mentioned an 'Aunt Nora.' As if this wasn't fun, to begin with. _A wide spread of plans instantly formulated in his mind, crisscrossing and merging together, like a massive crossword puzzle.

He was irritated that Elodie had so easily dismissed his instructions of not to leave the city, but tried to brush it off and see it as an opportunity.

_No matter; I can collect plenty of information about that big ice sculpture and exchange it for plenty of information about the little darling. _Grabbing up his cane, the Riddler sauntered out of the train station, assuming any strange glances cast towards him to be ones of envy and yearning.

"She should feel _honored _to have captured my attention! To simply brush me off…she's going to pay! Alas, all in good time, Edward. She'll learn her mistake and come crawling back for forgiveness."

Nodding to himself, Nygma suddenly rounded on an innocent passerby who was trying to avoid eye contact with him, the look in his eyes enough to make any sane person nervous.

"What are you looking at, freak?" The Riddler exclaimed, glaring at the startled man, before turning and continuing his way down the sidewalk.

"Inconsiderate simpletons…" His thoughts immediately gravitated towards a certain blonde, but he shook it off, not about to become distracted while planning.

He waved over a patiently waiting henchman-who he'd hired right after Harvey had kicked the bucket-and didn't bother to slow down as the poor guy tried to catch up to him.

He'd only hired the three most competent of them because, well, he was a freaking genius and only needed them to do his dirty work. He didn't think much of them, really, but the steady pay he was giving them gave him the right not to. They were just pawns to be used then thrown away.

It was always better to use than to be used. This was why Nygma was so certain that investing his time in Elodie would be worth it.

_No ulterior motives to be seen; only innocent curiosity. Something I can also use to my advantage._ The redhead gave a sudden, abrupt laugh, and then chose to hop into and hotwire the nearest car-said car being a very stylish metallic gold sedan.

The man following behind him barely managed to slip into the car, before he took off down the street, weaving between cars and partially driving on the sidewalk.

"Better hold on, Ralph. We have lots of work to do!"

* * *

**I feel so stupid...I sort of forgot to upload this chapter, and uploaded the chapter than came after this first. Thus, the gap in the story you may have noticed. Sorry about that.**


	5. Plan A

Elodie almost couldn't believe how fast time had passed. She had taken her studies very seriously while at the university, but her mind had been restless whenever she had time to stop and think about her extended family.

She had tried to find her uncle's mailing address, using the name of the rundown ice cream factory, but all she found were recipes on how to make homemade ice cream.

Her anxiety level had slowly been increasing, and since she had spent Thanksgiving break with her parents, Elodie decided to take a short trip to Gotham City during her winter break.

She exited the train and moved off the platform, her midsized bag secured around her shoulders as she contently bustled down the sidewalk.

Elodie was pretty sure that she remembered how to get to her uncle's house.

She was just glad that she had bundled up, because it would be a long walk, if her memory served correctly. Tucking her red and purple plaid scarf into her simple black trench coat, the college student turned onto a familiar street, confident that she would reach the secret base before noon.

* * *

Two hours later, the young woman's optimism had been slightly deflated, but she wasn't about to give up.

…_Shit. I _knew _I should have turned right on the last street. Oh well, it's only a little past noon; I can definitely get there, before two, _she thought, crossing the street into heavier foot traffic, simply as a precaution.

_Who knows how many people might already know that I'm here. _She mused while casually glancing over her shoulder and bristling when she spotted a figure slip into an alleyway.

"Damn. Already? Well…speak of the devil and the devil doth appear." She muttered, slipping in front of a taller man and flipping her collar up. The young woman wasn't sure what she would do if confronted before reaching her uncle's base, so she plowed onwards, weaving in between people as she went.

This went on for a while, and Elodie was starting to think that she had lost whoever had been following her, until the sound of metal hitting against concrete made her freeze. She slowed her pace, listening for reoccurring sounds, before dashing around people with all due haste as the sound of a cane coming down on the sidewalk made its way to her ears.

_How did he know I was coming? Did he stick a tracking device to me, or what? _The blonde woman's panicked thoughts ran through her mind as she continued to weave through the crowd.

She took every opportunity to duck in front of people taller than her and move in front of those walking slowly.

After crossing at a crosswalk and getting half way down another street, Elodie was sure that she was safe to walk at a normal pace, only to once again be mistaken.

Elodie let out a short-lived scream while being tugged into a nearby alley. A hand clamped over her mouth as her back met with a brick wall. She immediately geared into fight or flight mode and bit the hand in front of her face.

"Ouch! That wasn't very nice, _Elodie._" The Riddler chided scornfully, his irritated tone making her eyes widen slightly, before she glared at him in equal irritation.

"What did you expect after stalking-" Nygma shushed her.

"_Not _'stalking.' I was making sure you didn't get lost." Elodie cast him a deadpanned expression, tried not to roll her eyes, and continued on with her tirade.

"Sure, that, whatever. Then you pull me into a dark alleyway and expect me not to overreact a little bit? Any person in their right mind would react, or expect someone else to react, the way I did." Nygma wasn't exactly shocked-he'd done a lot of research over the past seven months-but he would have felt outraged if Elodie's attempt at a rant hadn't been so unpracticed and pitiful.

The anger was there, alright, but the presentation was greatly lacking.

The tall man had taken notice of the young woman's rigid stance and that she had pushed herself off the wall during her outburst. He also observed the light sheen of sweat on her brow and that her eyes were puffy but not red.

_I sense an opportunity for trust building_, he thought smugly, sitting himself down and patting a spot next to himself, looking up expectantly.

"You have an ulterior motive for coming back. Riddle me this: who made you cry?" The Riddler was determined to get an answer. The prospect of visiting Elodie's abode-and learning more about her social life-after, of course, delivering a very painful vengeance to the unfortunate bastard who touched his query-excited him greatly.

Elodie, however, was less than thrilled by his prying. Nygma could clearly tell by her slight pout and lowered eyelids, but chose to ignore it, finding his motives more important.

_How did he figure it out so quickly? I haven't even thought about it since I left campus. I guess that's why he calls himself 'The Riddler.'_ Even though she was mildly impressed by his attention to detail, Elodie found herself desperate not to go any deeper into her troubles.

Other than him merely being an acquaintance, he also happened to be a villain, which was confirmed by the glint in his eyes when he had made his inquiry. She shook her head and planted a fake smile on her face-the man on the ground didn't believe it for an instant.

"No one did. This has been great and all, but I should be on my-" The retreating woman took a step towards the mouth of the alley, only to have her pant bottom pinned to the ground by the tip of a cane, the cane's owner looking downright insulted.

_Aw, crap. It would be bad if I hurt this dangerously stupid man's feelings, wouldn't it? _She dejectedly flopped down across from him.

"-way." She sighed, shouldering off her bag, since she knew this was going to take a while. It felt off to be sitting in a dark alley, in the middle of Gotham, let alone with one of its most infamous scourges. She grunted in protest as he wound an arm around her waist and dragged her closer to his side. The extra body heat was appreciated, but when Nygma's arm remained where it was, Elodie had to fight the urge to wriggle out of his grasp.

_Maybe abruptly leaving wasn't the best method of avoiding this whole 'obsession' mess, _she backtracked, biting her lip as she realized her detrimental mistake. Dangling a string out of a cat's reach will only make the cat want it more.

Elodie side-glanced at the Riddler, who seemed to be intently studying her, before he noticed her gaze and his expression turned downcast.

Elodie thought the expression looked fake, but since mostly all of his expressions seemed to carry that air of showmanship, she couldn't be sure if he was completely honest or a complete liar.

Of course, the young woman wanted to believe that the strange man was concerned for her wellbeing, but the events of the past several months had made her sunny horizon harbor some dark clouds.

"Start from the beginning, dear." He prompted, nudging Elodie to draw her out of her contemplation.

She had been trying to formulate an alternate story to give him. It was all for naught, of course, because she knew he suspected it without him uttering a single word. If the risen brow wasn't enough, then the bent posture and blatant look of disapproval sure was.

_There's no diverting me, Ms. Mercer. _He thought, amused yet slightly put off by her disregard of his nearly perfected ability to detect lies.

She _was _a newcomer to Gotham, however, which was why Nygma chose to be lenient with her. He would just have to teach her the ins and outs of his city, whenever he had the time to.

"Ahem." The Riddler turned a scornful eye towards the one who had intercepted his attention, only to scold himself when he saw that Elodie had drawn herself as far away from him as she could, his vice grip tightened around her waist.

Her eyes were wide with caution and wariness shrouded her entire face. Nygma composed himself and slowly drew her back to where she had been sitting.

He was, however, confused by her sudden reluctance to comply-he was putting on a friendly air, so there shouldn't have been any problems.

_I'm never going to get to the level of trust I want, if this keeps up! I'm aware of the fact that females are 'sensitive,' but come _on!

"Now, you were about to tell me what happened," he recollected, prepared to memorize any names or addressed she might let slip.

"No…I wasn't." For the last several minutes, Elodie had been trying to tell him this, but had almost lost her nerve when he had given her a look that would have frozen Hell's gates shut.

Now that she had declined his original request, she was anticipating a stronger reaction, and wondered to what extent he would express his disappointment.

Nygma's object of pursuance stared at him with an outward calm as he grasped what she had just said.

"Pardon?" Ha asked, not sure that he had heard her correctly. The Riddler did not approve of his questions being shot down and was not about to take Elodie's blunt refusal lightly. He felt the small woman shift her weight and continue to fidget as he nearly pulled her onto his lap from the tension building in his arms.

"That matter is a personal one. I came back so I wouldn't have to think about it, let alone talk about it, for at least a while. I appreciate your concern, but I'm going to set this matter on the backburner, until I'm ready to fix it." Her words were sincere and her gaze was steady, but Elodie was slowly growing anxious.

She was preparing to either run or fight when a light chuckle escaped her conversational companion.

"I completely understand, darling." He cooed, further confusing her as he released her to stroke her hair. She could have used this as an opportunity to escape, but the Riddler's extreme shift in personality had her wondering what would happen next.

"You need time to sort things out, which I get, but you see…" Something was pressed over Elodie's mouth and nose and she immediately recognized the sickly sweet smell of chloroform.

She stopped her breath, mid-inhale, and began to thrash and kick, already feeling the tips of her fingers going numb.

_Damn you-_The slighted woman had been hoping to fight her way away from the chemical soaked rag, but all the extra movement had put too much exertion on her starved lungs, and a wave of dizziness overcame her as she gasped for air. Nygma, pleased that his backup plan had gone without a hitch, continued as if nothing had happened.

"I have a very busy schedule, and since _you _no longer do, we'll just have to work around mine." The redhead didn't have to wait long for Elodie to fall unconscious. He scooped her thin form up and walked towards the car that pulled up-precisely on time, just as he had instructed Ralph.

"Grab the bag." He ordered over his shoulder while maneuvering his newest fascination into the back seat, making sure to turn the child locks on, on both doors, just in case.

Step one of his plan complete, he slid into the flashy stolen car he had become so fond of, impatiently tapping the butt of his cane against the dashboard as he waited to Ralph.

By the time the man got there (approximately thirty seconds later), Nygma was extremely irritated, snapping at his hired help as the thug took his spot in the driver's seat.

"Give me that," he hissed, snatching the parcel out of the henchman's hands as he failed to do so fast enough.

"Do I have to do _everything, _myself?" He sighed, flipping open the flap of the bag and settling into his seat. Rummaging through it, he wasn't very impressed by what he found, until he dug up a day planner nestled in the bottom of the bag.

"Let's see what you were planning, El-o-die." He muttered, an irreversible smile tugging at his lips. The Riddler cracked open the book of hints and began flipping through each page, his eyes hungrily absorbing any information he could get. The pages were filled with a variety of essay due dates, tests, and dance practices written in thin curly font. Then the second Saturday of the following month caught his eye.

The words "Date night!" surrounded by a heart stood out in blue. Nygma instantly bristled and turned back to glare accusingly at an unconscious Elodie. He took a deep breath and, willing himself not to jump to conclusions, then turned back around and continued to flip through the booklet.

The only other date that really stood out was the fourteenth of March, which noted that some sort of recital would be taking place.

_Well, she is a dance major, after all. _He noted, returning the day planner to its proper place and turning when a stifled moan came from the back seat.

Elodie was trying her damndest to lift her head up, at least semi-conscious, which surprised even the Riddler. He had used enough chloroform to knock out a full sized bull, and she was already starting to fight off its effects.

"You are either tenacious or stubborn enough to butt heads with an anesthetic. This is going to make our game much more fun." Nygma took a moment to bounce excitedly in his seat before draping the cloth drenched with the sweet-smelling liquid over the stirring woman's face.

The last thing he wanted to have to do was restrain a half conscious and panicking woman within the confines of the car.

"Get to the base and do so _quickly_." He instructed, a blunt eagerness in his voice, even though he was in an uncharacteristically bad mood.

Ralph, being smarter than the average henchman, followed his employer's instructions without question.

The car sped down the road, weaving between cars and driving along the sidewalk when needed. The man in the passenger's seat was used to reckless driving, by then, paying little mind to the sudden turns and stops as his mind buzzing with clashing theories.

His thoughts had constantly been redirecting themselves around everything concerning Elodie and the only method he'd found to rid himself of these thoughts was to create new riddles.

However, immediately after perfecting one of his puzzles, more infuriatingly persistent thoughts of the woman would plague him. Needless to say, Nygma was a little on edge and had made sure to keep himself very busy.

He was currently on the top of Gotham's most wanted list for robbing several large banks, jewelry stores, and museums. All while flying under Batman's echolocation system. This was all well and good, but the thoughts continued, which only succeeded in driving him deeper into insanity.

_She is going to pay dearly. Especially if she turns out to not be worth my time._

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__**So, this is going to be the last chapter, for awhile. Unless I know that at least one person is interested in reading the rest? Even a story alert? Either way, I need to type out what I have written down (pretty much all of what I have, so far), so expect at least a week's gap between now and the next update. Until then.  
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	6. Distractions

**To make up for my blunder (forgetting to upload chapter 4_ before_ chapter 5), here's another chapter. **

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To say that her head hurt would be downplaying the sensation. By a lot. Only a few seconds prior had she waken up on a strange bed in a strange room. She hadn't had time to take in the details, however. As soon as her nerves were finally aware of what they should have been feeling, the sensitivity to light and nausea hit her in one overwhelming blow to her stomach.

Luckily, the nausea's warning signs were quick to make their appearance. She forced herself to slide off the bed and rush to the nearest door, which was, thankfully, a bathroom. After emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet and rinsing out her mouth, she moved towards the doorframe, a bit more relieved but still dizzy and groggy from being drugged. She also realized that her jacket had been removed as a chill caused goose bumps to prickle up her arms.

"He drugged me; he freaking drugged me." She muttered, feeling more betrayed than she expressed. Elodie's first spoken words seemed to cue the door across the room to swing open.

Her eyes narrowed at the person behind the door as she supported herself against the doorframe. She didn't say anything, knowing that her voice would have cracked, and instead waited for her kidnapper to grasp the fact that she wasn't speaking to him.

"Good morning, my dear! Did you sleep well?" The young woman merely stared at him as she made small nicks in the doorframe with her nails. Nygma took her silence as a sudden bout of timid behavior and wondered what brought on her sudden change in demeanor. He felt a sense of endearment overtake him and sauntered closer, a flattered smile crossing his features.

"Is someone feeling sheepish, this morning?" He expected that the blonde would avert her gaze, but she continued to look at him, now becoming affronted by his careless assumptions.

It was then that Elodie averted him. She turned and walked back to the very large bed she had woken up on. She sat herself down and turned to look at him, legs crossed, with her hands clasped in her lap. Her body language screamed, "I'm being serious and you damned well better listen to me."

_He's never going to take me seriously. The friendly approach didn't work and the abrasive approach only egged him on. The only way I can think of to get him to leave me alone is to be up front with him. Right? _She did, of course, doubt her own ability to be so cold and calculating with anyone.

Everyone who knew her knew that she was too kindhearted for her own good. But, if the Riddler continued to assume things-like her own unquestioning compliance-then Elodie would be forced into her disfavored and rarely seen "bitch mode." She begrudged anyone who forced her into anything, so it wasn't going to be pretty.

Nygma had pulled up a stool-an extension of the strange question mark shaped couch in the far corner-and was sitting just close enough so that, if she stood up, Elodie would have to maneuver her way around him.

"Is something the matter?" He asked, finally catching on to her expression, much to Elodie's relief.

"I have a question." She stated bluntly, a stern expression concreted onto her face, despite the casual air the Riddler was exuding and expected to be reciprocated. Interest piqued, he leaned forward, diminishing what little personal space Elodie had left.

"Oh?" She saw curiosity and a disconcerting hunger dancing in his eyes like flames. "I'm sure that I have the answer. What is your question?" Elodie found herself pausing to reconsider what she was about to ask. His proximity was making her nervous, and she wasn't sure how he would react, especially since her question could be seen as a challenge.

She knew-well, hoped-that the Prince of Puzzles would have killed or otherwise harmed her in the alley, if he had wanted to, lessening the possibility of him doing so just then.

"Why did you find it necessary to drug me and bring me here, against my will?" As she asked, she watched as his usual smugness took the place of the worrisome predatory look he'd had, the moment before.

"Our little agreement still stands; a fact for a fact. I was going to inform you of certain guidelines of this agreement, before you so rudely ran off, without giving me any notice." The slender woman stiffened as his face fell into a frown. She knew that anything other than a smug smirk or a pompous grin being on his face meant trouble.

For her own sake, Elodie reluctantly remained passive as the redhead took one of her hands in his, rubbing small circles into her palm, as if doing so would erase his frustration.

"However, seeing as you have already broken one of the most important rules," a mischievous smirk was already forming on his face, "you will have to learn that repercussions come from not answering my questions." In a flash, Nygma was on his feet and Elodie had taken his place on the stool, flinching as his hands rested on the nape of her neck.

"These repercussions will vary, depending on the situation, but I'm always consistent." She went to turn her head, but his grip on her neck tightened, preventing her from moving further.

The now panicked woman felt her kidnapper lean down, speaking into her ear in a hushed voice. "A good trait to have, is it not?" Not knowing what else to do, Elodie nodded meekly, gasping as he swiveled her towards himself.

By the look on his face, she knew that her agreement had stroked his ego, the thought draining the blood from her face. The last thing she needed was to encourage the Riddler to become grabbier than he was already being.

_Is it better to encourage him or piss him off? _She wondered, quickly coming to a conclusion, and not at all liking the answer.

"I thought you'd say that," he purred, backing off a bit to observe her. Unused to such an intense amount of attention, Elodie began to fidget under his gaze, her determination slipping.

_Like a bug under a magnifying glass._ The reality of the situation was beginning to set in and she suddenly felt very small. Her uncle's words of warning echoed in her head in rapid succession.

**Dangerous idiot…dangerous…dangerous… **She desperately wanted to know what he had meant, and wished she had pushed him for information, but it was obviously too late. She turned her attention to the flamboyant man as he leaned down to gain her attention.

"This time, it was only being brought to my humble abode. But next time," she jumped as his hand caressed her face, "who's to say? It may be a penalty game, or…well, it won't come to that, I'm sure." His casual threat shook her more than it should have. He had yet to cause her physical injury, but his voice sounded confident, causing doubt to string itself throughout her mind.

"Well, what if you don't answer one of my questions?" She challenged, curious and determined enough to find her voice again. That wasn't enough, however, as Elodie found herself being taken by the hand and led towards the other side of the room. They passed the obviously locked door and the young woman noticed that the doorknob was carved out of what resembled emerald.

'_Humble' abode. Ha! I wouldn't be surprised if that was actual emerald._ Elodie was quickly shaken out of her smug thoughts as she was grabbed by the shoulders and spun to face a high lying shelf. She stared up at the only object on the shelf, eyes squinting to take in the small details of the flower vase, seeing nothing unusual in the hand painted question marks decorating the shimmery green background.

"What do you see?" He asked, pulling her back so that her back connected with his chest. The shorter woman suspected that the beats per minute her heart was going resembled that of a hummingbird. She also knew that the man in green was well aware of this, due to their close proximity, and tensed as he chuckled.

"An empty flower vase, with an unsymmetrical gold question mark pattern, and a green background. The work looks like it's been done by hand and acrylic paint was used. From the sheen of the paint, it looks like a clear coating was added, after the acrylics were dry." Elodie paused for only a brief second, to allow her analysis to set in, before adding her final observation.

"The fingerprint set into the clear coating shows that the artist had become impatient, during the drying process, which means that the purpose for this vase had a certain time increment. What did you need it for?" The blonde could feel a blush warm her cheeks, wondering if she should have shown off the way she did, and ultimately regretted it.

Elodie was spun around so quickly that it took her a few seconds to register the warm sensation against her lips. Her eyes flew open, seeing nothing but dark hazel eyes surrounded by a purple mask, before she began to struggle to free herself. Keeping her mouth firmly shut, she hurriedly backed up; her movements having no effect as he effortlessly followed her.

When Elodie's back hit the wall, however, a scraping sound from above diverted her attention and gave the persistent man the perfect opportunity. As if he did so every day, the Riddler caught the falling vase while expertly invading the flabbergasted woman's mouth, his lips tugging upwards all the while. Her fighting became mute as she became short of breath and her head began to swim with unpleasant thoughts.

After a few excruciating moments of waiting for him to relent, Elodie gasped for breath, dizziness overwhelming her and causing her to lean her weight against the wall. She was beyond words-or insults-and could only stare at him while she contemplated what had just happened, and why.

"A distraction, a long time ago, which concerned a certain flying rodent." Nygma explained, glancing back at the vase in question with a small amount of interest.

Just as quickly, he turned his gaze back to Elodie, a satisfied look of knowing on his features. "It seems that the same tactic worked on you, my dear. Now, what was your question?" As she paused to recollect her thoughts, the now indignant young woman stared at him, shocked at herself for having completely forgotten her own inquiry.

"Th-that's not fair," she objected, slowly finding the strength she had lost in her legs from the sudden invasion of her personal space.

"Not fair?" He began to laugh, as if Elodie had told a clever joke, putting her off more than she already was. "My, my, how much you have to learn." Nygma handed her the vase in his hand, which she dumbly took, before steering her back to the bed.

Sitting her down, he took a moment to take in her quizzical expression, before continuing. "I'm sorry to say that life, my dear, is not_ fair_. Even those closest to you, no matter the degree of trust you have in them, can have lapses in judgment." Elodie had had her attention split between the man and the vase, not fully trusting the inanimate object in her hands, and quickly found a reason not to as a small nozzle appeared from its mouth.

Before she could throw the thing away from herself, a fine mist of something that smelled like sulfur covered her face, her head immediately swimming with a drug induced dizziness.

"And that," he concluded, removing the vase from her hands as she collapsed atop the bed, "could land you in a rather precarious situation."

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**Many thanks to ShiroKoneko82 for reviewing, kat-a-pillar for favoriting, and all you lurkers out there.**


	7. Fuel for Fire

Elodie awoke to nothing but black and white squares in her vision. Picking herself up from the floor, she scanned the room-ceiling, walls, and floor-and took note of the small numbers in the upper left corner of each square.

_Crossword puzzle _ran through her mind and she cringed as a booming voice echoed down from the highly arched ceiling.

"You do recover quickly, don't you? Thirty minutes; not bad." The twice-slighted woman leered up at where she thought the voice was coming from.

"Do you have to drug me, every time you find it necessary to move me somewhere?" She asked, flinching at his overbearing reply.

"No, but I'm curious to see how long it will take, before you constantly remain on your toes." Elodie sighed at this, but had expected nothing less of the man in green, her ability to pick up on his narcissistic habits slowly improving.

"Duly noted. Would you mind telling me what I'm supposed to do in the middle of this crossword cube?" She asked, glancing down as the square she stood on lit up.

"You seem competent enough to solve some of my…simpler riddles. I just wonder whether or not you can find your way out of a more difficult puzzle." Elodie was listening, but had gotten distracted by what she discovered to be pressure-activated pads. She stepped on one, grinned as it lit up, then moved on to the next one.

"Focus!" The voice snapped, causing the blonde-haired woman to snap her attention back to him.

"Sorry," she squeaked, casting up a meek grin as he sighed haplessly. The fact that Elodie would cast even a fake smile towards the man had her questioning her mental state.

She quickly concluded that it was simply due to the potpourri of narcotics she had been exposed to.

She returned to the square she had started out on-One, Across-and looked up patiently.

_The last thing I need to do is irritate him, while I'm stuck in here, with no way out. _The thought helped her keep a straight face as she anticipated his instructions.

The curious woman didn't have to wait long, however, taking note that the Riddler seemed to enjoy listening to himself speak.

"All you have to do is fill in as much of the puzzle at your feet, as you can. Simply say the letter you wish to choose, while standing on the desired square, and it will appear. There is no time limit. However," there was a break in his melodious tone as he paused for effect, "you need to complete it all, without making any errors. Otherwise…well, we'll discuss that, later. Are you ready to begin?" Having no other choice, either way, Elodie nodded and jumped a little as a projection of a hint sheet appeared on the wall she was facing.

_Might as well start with the first. _She decided, reading the hint for One Across, her eyes widening in recognition. With only four squares to work with, she moved forward, spelling "J-E-T-E" with each step. With a blaring gong noise that made her yelp, the four squares turned green, indicating her correct answer.

Suspicious, she move to Three Across, which had seven squares available. Glancing up at the hint, her suspicion mounting, Elodie spelled out "L-Y-R-I-C-A-L" and felt her suspicions proven as those squares also turned green.

_Dance terms? He's definitely going easy on me…how rude. _Mulling the thought over in her mind, she continued to solve the crossword puzzle, self-conscious and paranoid due to the fact that the Riddler was remaining silent.

_What's he planning? It could be nothing…no, he's always planning something. But what? _She let her mind wander over the possibilities as she completed all twelve rows of squares, being sure to avoid the blackened-out ones, at all costs. She wasn't sure if they were holes, or a part of the floor, and she frankly didn't want to find out.

"Finished already?" The Riddler's voice asked, not sounding at all surprised. Glancing up, Elodie nodded mutely, back to being stoic now that her stomach was continuously flipping itself over.

The burn of stomach acid suddenly sent hot and cold flashes throughout her body. She cringed, her hand unconsciously going to her stomach, but then remembered where she was.

A cold sweat had broken out over her body and her vision watered. A combination of stress and hunger was to blame, she decided. She looked up into the studio lighting that partially blinded her.

"You went easy on me, on purpose." She pointed out, voice wavering, even though she was irritated. A mechanical grinding sound dinned throughout the room and Elodie silently watched as a platform descended from above the lighting.

The man in green's tall frame was leaned against the guardrail, a neutral and contemplative look on his face.

"Your assumption is correct. That was just a warm up exercise, however. Are you ready for another?" Despite the weakness in her knees and the lightness in her head, Elodie nodded, not willing to get on his bad side because she had disappointed him.

_Gotta' keep going. Can't give up, now. _She gave a start, and would have fallen onto her backside, if Nygma hadn't been eyelevel with her and was, coincidentally, able to catch her by the arms.

"I'm not so sure about that, dear. I wouldn't be following my own rules if I let you go on, like this. Let's take a brief intermission, so that you can return to your normal mindset, shall we?" Elodie was about to object, wanting to get her unavoidable failure out of the way, but still ended up on the lift.

Sighing through her uneasy breaths, she leaned against the rail on the opposite side of the lift, allowing her wavering gaze to fall on the man staring right back at her.

"When was the last time you've eaten anything? Or slept, for that matter?" His sudden questions threw her for a curve and she blurted out the truth.

"Three days ago." The masked man obviously did not approve, in the slightest.

"That," he drawled, "is going to change." The lift had been ascending, for quite some time, but had finally stopped at an open doorway.

Taking her by the arm, he began striding down the well-lit hallway that resembled that of a high-end hotel, his long legs making it difficult for the faint girl to keep up.

She was mostly concentrating on not tripping over her own feet, but a shiver ran down her spine as she noticed that all of the lighting was tinted green.

_How into himself _is_ he?_ _And what on _Earth_ have I done to _distract_ him from himself? _More questions without any answers poured into her poor overworked mind as they moved through a doorway that Elodie instantly recognized.

He led the increasingly shaken woman to a table set that hadn't been there before. Grudgingly, she let him help her sit down, a wave of relief washing over her as she did.

"Doing this to yourself is terribly counterproductive, you know. I like to think of myself as a forgiving person, and can be quite patient, under certain circumstances. What I will _not_ tolerate is counter-productivity." An approving grin slipped across his face as she straightened a little under his gaze.

"While concerning even my own mental stability," she held in a snort due to the term he used, "there are certain elements that must constantly be present." The redhead, now with his trademark green bowler hat rested on the table, settled himself in the chair adjacent to Elodie and snapped his fingers.

An intimidatingly bulky blond haired man promptly entered the room, a tray in each hand. A thin-lipped grimace she wouldn't have guessed to be a smile stretched his face as he set one of the trays in front of her. Elodie managed to split her attention between the two as she marveled at the sheer mass of the man.

"The two most basic elements to mental functionality are nutrients and energy. Do you understand?" She found herself too distracted by the way the henchman walked to pick up on the purposeful condescending tone he continued to use with her.

Refocusing on her "host," Elodie nodded curtly, eyes narrowing in annoyance as she glanced down at her tray.

Along with the bowl of soup she identified as tomato bisque, she took note of the glass of ice water and small plate of saltines that accompanied it.

Against her better judgment, she called out a sincere thank-you to the retreating man, before turning back to match gazes with the clearly disapproving man.

"What was that?" He questioned, picking up the soup spoon that had come with his own tray, before nonchalantly beginning his meal.

"That? I was thanking him," she defended, seeing no problem with her common courtesy.

There was a tense pause, in which Elodie took the opportunity to sip her ice water, but the soup remained untouched. She had been drugged two too many times to fully trust anything the Riddler offered her.

"You really can't help it, can you?" He asked, his voice a breath of a whisper that the young woman barely caught. The exasperated look on his face helped to further fray her nerves.

Grabbing up a saltine to distract herself, she rose a brow as she cautiously chewed it, unsure of his question.

"Help what?" As soon as she asked, he was leaning halfway across the table, gesturing to her for emphasis.

"That, exactly. The complete and utter naivety and positive regard you have for _everyone. _You _must _be the result of a country upbringing. Your parents must be terribly cruel people." The look of pity he had might have actually been genuine, but at the insult to her parents, Elodie ignored it completely.

Leaning herself forward, face heated with anger, she temporarily forgot about her fatigue and bristled.

"I don't take kindly to people I barely know insulting my lineage. My parents are and have always been good people. Gotham City is the _only _place I've _ever _seen have such a vastly different mentality. Having compassion and positive regard for others isn't a bad thing and doesn't make me any less of a person. I'd rather be looking forward, to where I'm headed, instead of behind my back, to make sure the people who've become my enemies aren't planning my downfall! It isn't my fault that I didn't grow up in a toxic environment!"

Blinking rapidly, Elodie noticed that she had stood and smacked her hands against the table, making the water in her glass quiver.

Shocked at herself, she slowly lowered herself into the chair, heart pattering in her chest as she stared down at her soup.

The entire situation was becoming more than she could process. She had been kidnapped from right off the street, in broad daylight, without anyone noticing or caring enough to do anything about it.

The glamour of the big city had been smashed to pieces by the utter indifference she had seen of its people.

Now, she was stuck with having to cope with the lunatic across from her, from the subtle threats he made, to the constant invasion of her space and mind. There was no telling when, or if, she would be able to leave, alive.

Having successfully made herself miserable, Elodie awkwardly took another saltine and bit it in half, the hitch in her throat making it difficult to swallow, as she cautiously glanced up.

The redhead had been aptly twirling his hat in his hands while silently waiting for her episode of hysteria to be over, a knowing expression that wasn't quite a smile ghosting over his lips. A passing urge to slap that expression off his face disappeared as fast as it had spawned in her mind.

"My, my, the secret you're keeping really is troubling you, isn't it? Irritability? Most uncharacteristic of you, if I do say so, myself." The slowly fading girl felt her eye twitch. In all honesty, she had temporarily forgotten about _that _issue, but the sudden reminder sent her into a dizzying sense of mental disarray.

"I-well…uh…I'm not answering any more questions. Not until I get enough of both essential 'elements,' as you call them." There was a strain in her voice and it was blatantly obvious that she was becoming upset over her lapse of memory.

_Why didn't I remember what happened? And that question before…the vase…_Eyes stinging with moisture, she waited for his rebuttal, loosing grip on her composure and knowing that any harsh or taunting words would reduce her to a crying mess.

"Fair enough," Riddler ceded, his hands going still as he resumed his meal.

_How can she be so easily upset? Women…estrogen equals irrational behavior. She's doing fine, so far, but waiting for her to relay useful information is going to drive me insane!_ The barely contained emotion flickering on the young woman's face quickly boosted his confidence in his plan.

_Trust, Eddie; there needs to be trust. _A dazzling smile lit his face and successfully startled Elodie so that the withheld tears in her eyes trickled down her cheeks. Almost immediately after, she donned a look he imagined would resemble that of a child who had had their sand castle destroyed by elementary school bullies.

The smile on the man's face dissolved, as he deftly removed a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket, and handed it to her.

"There's no need to cry, my dear. Mental fatigue can be just as debilitating as that of the physical." The flustered woman accepted the offered material with a soft thank-you, then sniffled quietly, the action unintentionally endearing.

_That face, _he internally groaned, mildly surprised at himself as he saw nothing unattractive in Elodie's face, as a very male urge caused him to sigh in frustration. He considered himself a gentleman, after all, but this was going to become torturous.

The young woman chose to ignore the familiar expression, adding his restrained intentions to her list of worries, and used her bisque as a distraction.

Elodie, now thoroughly confused in all categories surrounding her life, dabbed at her eyes while remaining guarded.

"I won't argue with that," she agreed, refolding the kerchief and placing it on the table between them. She was starting to piece together that she would have to work with him, instead of against him, if she were to ever have the chance to escape.

_More lies by omission. Being strung along, while having little to no control over the situation, and playing with the cards I'm dealt. _She side-glanced at the increasingly welcoming bed and decided she would care about any of that, later.

The man in green stood and took her hands in his, making her obligated to stand, which she did hesitantly. She wobbled slightly as he pulled her closer to himself, into a rather intimate hold, his gloved hand sliding along the arch of her back.

"Pleasant dreams, my dear," he whispered, humming a sound of approval as her heart rate sped up. She ignored the fact that the torso she was pressed up against was well built and warm as her level of discomfort spiked.

"Th-thank you, um…" she stuttered out, face burning for a different reason, this time.

Satisfied by the state he had managed to put his newest project in, the redhead took a step back, cupping her face in his hand.

"You may call me Edward." He allowed, suddenly nose to nose with her, only intending on making her uncomfortable.

"…Edward," she repeated, eyes widening as he placed a quick peck on her forehead.

Elodie watched silently as he took his leave, and waited for the door to click shut, before dazedly stumbling over to the bed. She kicked her boots off before collapsing into the bed.

_I am _so_ screwed, _she decided, crawling under the Kelly green blankets while contemplating how to make _Edward _less grabby towards her. _He's a villain; there is no way. Unless…ugh, my head. _She curled herself into a ball, desperate to avoid the oncoming headache looming over her, as her eyes fluttered shut.

There was no possible way to make her mind function better than it was, at that point, which wasn't saying much.

After a few minutes of shifting, to get comfortable, she felt herself fading into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Another chapter, because I can. Thanks to those who reviewed! I have to say, writing this chapter was fun. I plan on writing more "challenges" into the story, and already have the next one figured out. Until next time!**


	8. Better Late Than Never

**Sorry for the delay. Real life caught up with me and I had to sort some important things out. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

When Elodie did finally wake up, a warm light was shining on her face, making for a very pleasant first few moments of consciousness. It was when she opened her eyes and sat up that all the trouble started.

She was aware of the sound of running water, and could hear it when the tap was turned off, but didn't register what came through the door, a few minutes later.

She saw the Kelly green dress pants and purple eye mask she was now accustomed to seeing on Edward.

_But that's about…all there…is. _Having just woken up, and not quite oriented to what was happening, Elodie wasn't fully aware that she was gawking at the lean yet toned torso that happened to be completely uncovered and attached to the man in question. A pompous smirk crossed his face, and the groggy woman took notice of her actions, her pale face flushing a deep scarlet as she averted her gaze.

"Did you sleep well, my dear?" Edward questioned, striding towards the wooden wardrobe and picking out a black dress shirt. Doing her best to center herself, she nodded, not being able to help the small yawn that escaped her.

"Definitely," she confirmed, smiling as she stretched her arms upward and felt her spine pop in a few places. Now that he was fully clothed-and therefore easier to look at, let alone talk to-Elodie suddenly found herself less timid. Shirt now buttoned into place, Edward fully turned towards the bleary-eyed woman, usual smirk in place as he approached the bed. She noticed that his cane was nowhere to be seen as she slid herself out from under the sheets.

"Wonderful! Now, seeing as I have had the opportunity to freshen up," her blush returned from the short term memory, "it would be discourteous of me to note offer you the same." Elodie was about to jump at the opportunity of a hot shower-her stiff muscles needed it-but paused as the thought of her bag came to mind.

"That's kind of you, really," she admitted, aware that she was being treated well, as far as being the victim of a kidnapping went. The only physical distress she had been put through was her own fault, and as long as she kept on his good side, she felt that it would remain that way.

"Do you know where my bag got to? The _several _'fainting spells' I had yesterday seem to have made my memory a little fuzzy." Despite his cool demeanor, an amused grin broke out on Edward's face.

"Oh, well, how unfortunate. I assure you that your bag is safe and sound. I couldn't help but notice, however, the wrinkled state of most of your clothing." Elodie knew what was coming at that very instant. She did not like it one bit.

"So, I took the liberty of having them sent out, to be cleaned. While I was at it, I also purchased a few replacements, just until your clothing is returned."

_Which will be never_, Edward finished, knowing that he had her backed into a corner. He had never been a fan of women in jeans and knew that something…classier would do more for the small woman's feminine qualities.

Elodie had pretty much taken the hint and sighed to herself.

"Well, I…thank you." She deflated a little. The politeness bred into her was becoming a burden and the man's insistent decisions gave her little choice on accepting his "generous" offer.

"Whatever it takes to make your stay here more comfortable." He pledged happily, turning on his heel and swiftly moving back towards the wardrobe.

The pale woman saw a flash of green and cringed. Despite being Nygma's trademark color, she had yet to find any shade that didn't make her look washed out and sickly.

As he fully turned, however, Elodie's eyes widened slightly. The mid-length sundress was a beautiful shade of emerald green and hung from the hook by its butterfly sleeves. A royal purple bow cinched at the waist and the skirt flowed freely as it remained suspended in midair.

"It's pretty," she half-muttered, eyes brightening at the sight of her bag in his other hand.

"I knew you would like it." Elodie was tempted to shy away as he moved towards her, but managed to stand her ground, grasping the proffered items in shaky hands. Edward moved closer than necessary, by now an anticipated act, as he bent down slightly to come face-to-face with her.

"Don't dawdle, now." He instructed, voice hushed and sending an uncomfortable chill down her spine. Nodding briskly, she scurried into the bathroom, relieved to be away from the overbearing man.

However, as she took the chance to get a good look at her surroundings, two things about the bathroom made Elodie incredibly uncomfortable. The first was that the shower had clear glass paneling. The second was that there was no lock on the door.

"Oh, hell no." She huffed, dragging the vanity chair she spotted by the mirror and wedging it against the doorknob. A faint laugh broke out from the other side of the door and she bristled.

_Now, let's see what I was allowed to keep._ Hanging the dress on the door hook, she turned and unzipped her travel bag, a frown tugging her lips down.

A black index card stared up at her, a green question mark centered on it. With a suspicious frown remaining on her face, she cautiously picked the paper up, before flipping it over.

**Connected I am, yet, despite my closeness, it takes time to pass my substance. The stiller I am, the faster I run. What am I? **She muttered the riddle to herself as she dug through her bag, removing her hygiene products and a set of undergarments. Her cellphone was, miraculously, missing and her wallet had been emptied of all forms of I.D.

_What has substance? Some kind of container. _Brow furrowed in concentration, she started the shower, rolling her eyes at the question mark shaped handle. She waited for the water to warm up before, glancing cautiously at the door, Elodie stripped off her clothing and stepped into the shower.

Instant relief swept through her as she craned her neck forward, rolling her shoulders to work the kinks out of her muscles.

_What can be still, yet run? And takes time…_She relished the scent of jasmine and amber as she scrubbed at her skin and hair, the soap dislodging the sweat and grime that her pores had collected merely by walking around in the city. She was beginning to miss the fresh air of her hometown.

_Running; time…in a container with a substance. _Elodie allowed the words to slosh around in her head, for a bit, as she rinsed and shut the tap off. Then, quickly finding a towel underneath one of the cabinets, she wrapped herself in it and turned to regard her reflection.

Her eyes were glossed over with worry. A small crease in her brow came from squinting at herself, which was understandable, considering her situation. She was still fit, but her hips had decided to act on a whim and expand without her consent.

Her curvature had noticeably increased-in more than her bottom portion-which was cumbersome and made her stick out during her several dance courses. Elodie fondly recalled all the playful badgering her classmates and her would exchange.

_Toothpick chicks, the lot of them. Where was I? _As she patted herself dry, her mind ran through the few possibilities she had come up with. Unfortunately, her mind was making connections that she had no desire to contemplate, making her cringe as a realization hit her at full force.

_Wait_, _could that be why he's practically been _groping _me? _She almost dropped her towel, but quickly recovered, sponging up the water from her now mid-back length hair.

_Gotta' stay focused! Think of all the possible answers…_Elodie glanced down at her hips and groaned.

"I hate you." The blonde muttered, running a brush through her hair and watching as it began to form a subtle wave. With that finished, she slipped into her undergarments and eyed the dress.

It hung there innocently enough, but was also cut into a more flattering shape than she was used to, which made her nervous.

_Here goes nothing_, she mused, slipping the garment over her head and adjusting the bow at the back. A scoop cut exposed some of her collarbone and the skirt fell a little ways past her knees. The young woman's brow rose when she noticed the shade of green actually brightened her complexion and drew the green in her eyes out.

A pair of black slippers were on her feet, as soon as she spotted them in her bag, and then she was headed for the door. Shifting the chair to its proper place, she moved the rest of her belongings into her bag, before grabbing it and moving out of the safety of the bathroom.

It only took Elodie a second to locate her patiently waiting host sitting at the table from the night before, an arm propping his head up. His gaze swept up her form, a self-satisfied smirk spreading across his face, before he focused on her with an expectant brow quirked.

"An hourglass," she announced, fairly proud of herself, seeing as she hadn't so much as glanced at a riddle since the last time they had met. Nygma's eyes visibly brightened as he stood, not pausing for a moment as he swiftly made his approach.

"Well done, my dear," he praised, gaze critical as he took one of her hands in his and slowly turned her in a circle.

_Definitely the proper cut; a much-needed improvement. _He decided, approving even more of how the dress complimented the younger woman's contours.

"It suits you." The diluted compliment was not lost on Elodie. A grin spread across his face was she was thrown into a bout of fidgeting. Nygma reveled in the fact that his approval could send her into such a state.

Now fully finished his observation, he stepped back with a plotting expression Elodie did not at all like.

"Would you like to play a game of chess? I imagine it would prove to be an excellent warm-up, before we get to the main event." Elodie knew that declining would cause her to miss out on some hint or clue of some form or another. Besides, she had always wanted to learn how to play the game, and hoped that Edward would be patient enough to teach her.

"Sure. If you don't mind going through the more complex rules…and the basic ones…and which piece goes where on the board."

Shrinking into herself, she watched as he blinked, not comprehending, which was an alien expression on him.

"You've never played chess before?" He questioned, face still blank as he stared down at her.

"Well…no. Country upbringing, remember?" She retorted, averting her gaze to the side and giving a start as he took her by the arm and led her towards the table.

"Better late than never, I suppose. Rueb would be turning over in his grave; a pretty thing like you not acquainted with such a well-developed and sophisticated activity."

For once, she was able to overlook his thrown-in compliment. His hands were warm through his gloves as he fluidly sat her down. The table, she noticed, had a checkered pattern set into the wood and a medium sized box sat at its center.

_I'll need to disagree with something he suggests, sooner or later. I'm curious to see how he'll react. _A smile threatened to tug her lips upward, but her expression remained neutral, as Edward seated himself across from her.

"Pay close attention, because I don't like to repeat myself." Elodie leaned forward in her chair, eyes wide and mouth closed, the epitome of paying close attention. Nygma's first instinct was to become affronted by the seemingly mocking gesture, but a second glance proved that she was sincerely interested in his teachings of the game.

_I could get used to this_, he decided, making little effort to suppress his inflated ego while maintaining an air of dignity.

"The first thing you must know is that this is a game of wits; the underdog will most certainly lose, unless the circumstances and position of the playing pieces shift in their favor, throughout the game. Even then, it is up to that person to identify the opportunity for what it is.

After this, there is the matter of experience and positioning of the pieces…"

Edward continued to explain the game, Elodie remaining silent the entire time, for once content with the fact that she had nowhere else to be. She was learning about something she was interested in and the man across from her was more than proficient in explaining everything she needed to know.

After about eight minutes of alliteration, Elodie was fairly certain that she had grasped the concept of chess.

_Too bad he's a crook, and a little…off; he'd make a good teacher._

"Are you ready to give it a try?" He asked, smirk in place as she nodded, almost eagerly. It was the exact reaction he had been anticipating and he hummed happily as he set his pieces-the black set-for Elodie to mimic.

Once she was done fussing over the angle they were positioned in, she looked up at the patient and condescending expression he wore, before landing her gaze back on the table.

_Right, the white set goes first. _She moved one of her pawns-b2 to c3-and waited the split second it took for Edward to make his opening move-knight g8 to h7. Elodie rose a brow to match one of his previous expressions, interested in what his method would be, before making another move-pawn f2 to g3.

"Playing it safe, are we?" Her opponent asked, poking around for something to irritate and otherwise distract her from the game.

"No; just getting a feel for it." She corrected, watching his gloved fingers grasp a pawn-h7-and move it aside.

"Can't say I blame you; playing to your full potential isn't something novices are inclined to do. Why bother to put yourself under such pressure? Losing, while in such a state, can truly create an aversion of the game." Something in her twitched-a small pang of annoyance-but a pleasant expression remained on her face.

"I'll stay in my comfort level, for now, but thank you for the advice." A few rapid turns were taken before he spoke again.

"You are a tough one to crack, aren't you?" The expression on her face didn't waver as she moved one of her knights.

"Under the right circumstances," she allowed, eyes flicking between Edward and the board as she spoke.

"And what would those be?" One of his pawns took hers and he smirked.

"Not being dehydrated and sleep deprived. Pretty much whenever I'm not at the university." In return, one of her pawns claimed his and she moved it off the board, feeling rather neutral about the small victory.

"Why is that?"

"Do these count as official questions? Because I'm keeping tabs on how many you've asked, and I want just as many answers." The realization had knocked itself into her, as she had sat down to play, and had her wondering if the Riddler thought her so dense that she wouldn't notice the questions he had slipped into their conversations.

"You could count them, but I don't. This is only casual conversation; I'm not gaining any useful information from it, now, am I?"

_Smooth save, Eddie. Who's she to know what I'm truly looking for? _Elodie seemed convinced, even if the wariness was still there, so she answered his previous question.

"I balance dance with the lecture classes I take, five days a week. I start class at eight in the morning and leave campus at nine thirty at night, after practice and being assessed on new techniques and movements. I don't have a car, at the moment, so the walk to my dorm takes a solid fifteen minutes.

It's usually around ten o'clock, by the time I get to my dorm, which is when I have the opportunity to complete the work due the next day. I usually finish around two, wake up by seven, and repeat the process."

Elodie had gotten lost in the game as she rambled on about her school life. She had managed to take two pawns and a rook while losing three pawns and a bishop. Her turns were slowly beginning to match Nygma's rapid movements, although she was still uncertain of what her strategy was, and decided to play it by ear.

"Not much room for sleep," he observed, being sure to throw in a concerned edge to his voice as he moved his king forward-right across the path of one of her knights. "Check."

The young woman stared at the board, blinked slowly, then managed to make a recovery move.

"It'll be worth it. I only have one semester of killing myself left." The term sounded odd, even to her. A small, distracting, sound escaped her as she took her turn.

"What was that, my dear?" The masked man asked innocently, looking up from their game, a knowing expression barely contained behind the curious expression he wore.

Caught off-guard by his question, she looked up, trying to gather the reason why she had phrased what she had said the way she had.

"Nothing important," she assured, checking the knight that had checked her bishop. Edward knew better.

"It seems to me that it was a Freudian slip of the tongue," he pried, this time allowing a smug expression onto his face. One of her pawns and rooks went down as she tensed.

"I guess so," she deadpanned, taking a bishop and averting her gaze as she moved it to the side of the table.

Her nervous state deflated, then, as he moved his queen out into the open. She felt the pressure to move a more important piece, but became hesitant; caution came natural to her. Huffing, she moved a remaining pawn out of the way, before looking up.

The same greedily eager glint in his eye caught Elodie off-guard, causing her to shrink into herself a little. She was grateful for the table separating them and that his posture hadn't changed from the relaxed position he sat in.

"Perhaps you would like to confide in an outside party about these stressful factors? You might just gain a different perspective of things." Elodie opened her mouth, to object, but closed it and moved her own queen onto the playing board as he claimed her last knight.

"Why are you so interested in knowing these little details? They're of little consequence and I can't help but think that you're after something bigger." His remaining knight was put in the path of her queen, and if she hadn't taken the time to double-check, she would have rushed in to take it. Instead, she moved a nearby pawn and grinned a little as she claimed his piece.

"You may be sharper than you look. Details, my dear, are the puzzle pieces of the human psyche. Arrange them correctly and you will see the entire picture." The redhead arranged his thumbs and forefingers into a rectangle shape and peered through them to gaze at her. Elodie was becoming more tempted to lose her composure.

"But why?" The very pawn she had used was claimed and she rolled her eyes at his vindictive nature.

_Hm, look at that, a "puzzle piece." _She took down another pawn with her rook and realized how dangerously close his queen was to her king. She recalled the piece back a square and moved her rook closer.

"Hm, I thought we had had this discussion, before. Riddles, puzzles, and questions are my forte; my niche; my 'thing.' And so, when I stumble upon one, it comes natural for me to want to solve it. The world has personally challenged-nay, doubted-me, and I must prove them wrong. That _I _can best all others intellectually.

But very few others in this colony of simpletons have yet to show any level of comprehension, let alone desire, to try to match me. The simple doldrums of life-finding methods of funding, watching the city squirm as they failed to keep up with me, and dealing with the occasional flying rodent-were beginning to bore me. I needed a different sort of challenge.

What more of a challenge could I ask for, then to unravel the binds that hold countless puzzle pieces?" Elodie was sorry to have asked and suddenly felt violated in more than one way. She was not too keen on the idea of Nygma "unraveling" her. The look of shock was slow to fade as she moved her bishop.

"And I think that that conversation led into this one: I'm not going to make it easy for you." She deflated as his queen caught up with her king; Checkmate.

Her hand had been poised over her king, as she waited for the next turn that would never come. Before she could fully register what had happened, he captured her fingers in his grasp and maneuvered her into a standing position. The unexpected movement caused her to teeter forward, but to her chagrin, she was quickly steadied and set back on her feet. Their proximity to one another was just enough to make her uncomfortable.

"I'd be severely disappointed if you were to." He countered, the arm that enveloped her waist pulling her closer. She grunted in surprise and put her free hand out to keep some space between them.

"I rarely disappoint," she retorted, the challenge in her voice clear. The pressure in her chest increased as the urgency to escape did. She did her best to shove herself away from him, an irritated crease in her brow, but the taller man remained purposefully oblivious.

The small bit of fight she had, while remaining easy to manipulate, was enough to keep Edward entertained. For the time being.

With her hand where it was, she was almost surprised to feel a heartbeat under his black dress shirt.

"And I'm certain that this time will be no exception." An unpleasant shiver ran down her spine as he smoothed back a stray lock of her hair. Relief washed over her as his grip loosened, but she immediately stiffened as he captured her face in his hands, looming just within breathing distance.

"Now, are you ready for today's challenge?" He hummed, voice silk smooth and driving Elodie to silence. Blinking hard, she took a moment, before finding her voice.

"Bring it on," she shot out, swallowing back the nerves rising in her chest. The smirk he offered in return was chilling.

"With pleasure," he assured, giving an abrupt laugh and stepping back, before the floor dropped out from under her.

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**Oh gosh, please forgive me for this cliffhanger. This chapter's already pretty long, and I wanted to update, to let you all know that I haven't given up. I'll definitely try to update the next chapter quicker than I had taken on this one, but I have to type it all into a document, from the notebook I have it all down in. Reviews are loved!**


	9. Chutes and Ladders

A breathless scream ripped from Elodie, as her bottom half connected with a smooth metal surface, sliding down the slanted platform while attempting to keep her dress covering her thighs. She came to a stop on a circular perch, yelping as it wobbled, and chanced a glance over the side.

What had to be a twenty-foot drop greeted her, an enormous pool of water resting at the bottom.

Elodie froze up, her limbs locking, as quakes shook her body. Remaining on her backside, she slid to center herself on the perch, eyes moist with anxiety.

_Oh, God, I'm going to fall. _

Her lungs were suddenly too large for her chest cavity as she gasped out breaths of air, the sound echoing throughout the cavernous room.

"Is something the matter, Darling?" A familiar face questioned, causing the trembling woman to give a start, her heart thundering against her frame. Gripping the hem of her skirt with white knuckles, she glanced around, eyes narrowing with a sharp look of betrayal. Nygma was on the same cherry picker machine, reclining luxuriously on the rail.

"Why do you even have a room like this?" She yelled more than asked, aversion and disgust clear in her voice. Fear was making her snippy and abrasive and she did not appreciate him mocking her discomfort. Edward took notice, brow quirked, and leaned forwards in interest.

"It serves varying purposes; today, however, it will be used for our game." The word _game _caused her to bristle; she retorted out of instinct.

Standing herself up, Elodie pointed an accusatory finger at him, eyes ablaze with anger resulting from not-quite misplaced fear.

"_All_ of this is just some twisted game, to you, isn't it?" She asked, voice wavering as she tried to sort herself out, which showed through her altered mood. Although her question was rhetorical in nature, she made it impossible for him to respond. She began spouting off all the repressed thoughts she had kept silent, since they had struck up the agreement that had backfired on her.

"So you get your kicks out of proving that you're better than others and playing puppet master. You maintain whatever imaginary right you may think you have to use others as playthings-pawns-to entertain yourself and to get what you want." Finished her venting, she sat back down to catch her breath, and glanced over, curious of his reaction.

Edward looked, to put mildly, peeved. His grip on the platform's handrail turned knuckle-white and she was sure that she saw a vain on his otherwise slate-stoic face. She was not deterred from her shift in mood, however, and continued to stare at him curiously, her anger steadily dying down.

"A game? Admittedly, yes. But _just _a game? Elodie, darling, you underestimate me. This all serves a purpose, which I am sure you will be able to discover on your own, in due time. If you want to_ understand_ this purpose, then you will have to play the game, regardless of whether you win or not." A ball of led anchored her to her spot as the realization hit; although not said aloud, she wouldn't be leaving, anytime soon.

At her crestfallen expression, his icy expression chipped, a sharp smirk lightening his eyes. He leaned forward a bit-if that was even possible-and, to Elodie, resembled a panther about to pounce.

"Allow me to lay down some more…specific guidelines, which may help clear some things up. I can, and will be, kind, considerate of your personal needs…a mentor, if you so wish, and someone who can lend an ear. I hold no personal qualms with you, so there is no reason for me to treat you as a prisoner. I expect the same to be expended towards myself, of course, but you will certainly have little trouble with that."

The bottom of her stomach dropped out as a reoccurring thought entered her mind.

_How long will I be here? _She felt a wave of anxiety wash over herself. _I have priorities at home and school. Only Meg knows that I came here; didn't give her an address. I did say that I'd be back, in two weeks, so she'll have to know something's up. If I survive two weeks here, I'll be set._

With some amount of ire, she took notice that Edward was observing her silently; waiting for her to finish floundering.

"Alright; let's get started. What are the rules for this 'game'?" She watched as he fell back into the casual stance he primarily held. His mood seemed to have lightening, as well, as he was once again in control of the situation.

"I'm glad you asked! The name of the game is trivia. The subject: Gotham and other miscellaneous items. For each correct answer, you may ascend one level. However, each incorrect answer will cause you to descend one level. Falling below the line provided, will result in failure, while reaching the top tier will be considered a point in your favor. Are you ready to begin?"

Elodie had become worried at the mention of trivia, concerning Gotham. There was very little that she knew about the city, seeing as her only other visit was brief, and mostly consisted of her being tortured and interrogated.

She wasn't about to break down again, however, as not trying would result in a worse outcome than failing miserably.

When she nodded, he offered a toothy grin, before beginning with the first question.

"Who is currently at the top of Gotham city's most wanted list?" He questioned, grin still in place as she stared blankly at him.

_How am I supposed to know? Maybe I'm not. Think, Elodie! He's a narcissist, and must be aware that I have no idea who it is, so there's only one option._

"You?" She ventured, smiling in amusement as his eyes lit up.

"That's correct; please, move one column up." As she peered up at the pillar ten feet higher and six feet away, wondering how she could, a mechanical noise filled the air as a set of stairs rose from seemingly nowhere.

Wasting no time, she moved up the stairs, taking great care, as there were no handrails. She settled herself on the platform and returned her gaze to the masked man.

"Now, a miscellaneous question: if you play as the black set, on a game of chess, and move the fourth pawn from the left two spaces up, which position will it land on?" It was a simple and straight-forward question, but had Elodie all mixed up, as she had been playing with the white set. She bit her lip and traced a line in the air, counting the squares as she went.

"A-b-c-d-e…Oh, e5." He nodded, approving of her feeble memory that had the potential to be improved.

_Not very quick, but she's clairvoyant enough to remember moderately complicated patterns. There's always room for improvement. _Feeling as if his time hadn't been completely wasted, as of yet, Edward quickly moved on.

"That's correct." The same flight of stairs moved into position and she scurried up them. A quick glance upward showed that she was eight pillars away from the top.

"Try this one on for size: which of Gotham's buildings is the highest?" Elodie groaned at the pun, but otherwise remained serious, her mind drawing a complete blank.

_Well, what did I see, on the outings I had here? Traffic, skyscrapers, and a lot of…whoever that "Wayne" person is. Could that be it?_ _There was that one building…"Wayne" what?_

"Is it Wayne tower?" She guessed, quirking a brow as he frowned slightly.

"A very lucky guess; proceed." She did, and several questions later, she was only one tier above the one she had reached-climbing up when correct and sliding down when wrong.

"You can't win them all, my dear. You are nowhere near the line, which is impressive, seeing as you have only ventured the streets of the city twice."

Elodie blinked, startled at the seemingly sincere yet offhanded compliment. She was aware that it was difficult, if not damned near impossible, for him, and felt some of the sharp spite for him dull.

_Not good, _her inner voice warned, sobering her up enough to focus on him.

"Thank you…what was the next question?" She floundered to change the subject, this uncharacteristic behavior making her uncomfortable, but shortly came under fire.

"Just how did you learn to become so observant?" She stiffened, the subject of her past nothing she wanted to share with him. "I'm merely curious about such a useful talent."

"Well, ah…" It occurred to her that no amount of stalling would work and that the game would not proceed, until she answered his question.

Elodie cursed to herself and matched Edward's gaze. The crane he remained perched on moved a full range of the room's height; he was able to keep a critical eye on Elodie, the entire time, making her feel self-conscious as she tried to come up with an answer to each trivia question.

_No point in lying,_ she decided, remaining earnest throughout the entire ordeal.

"I used to work as a guide at a bird sanctuary. We were expected to tally the number of each species of bird we saw, daily, on each tour. This was all while giving the spiel about wildlife preservation and answering questions, so it took some about of concentration and the ability to multitask."

She could feel the skepticism radiating from him. Her pale complexion boasted that she had spent virtually no time outdoors, but she was aware that her tan faded quickly, even if she initially got very dark in the summer.

"It's true." She insisted, her pout dissolving as his amused expression grew.

"I am not doubting you, Dear. I just don't picture you as the outdoors type." Elodie rose a brow at his doubt.

"I spend every spare moment I have outdoors." She confessed, wondering how long she had been trapped inside for.

_A day and a half, at the most, right? _The fact that she wasn't sure was not comforting.

"Really? I'll have to remember that. Are you ready to continue?" Sighing in relief, she nodded, and had gotten through with two correct answers, before realizing that the difficulty level was rising.

_I can't very well have you win and have it go to your pretty little head, now, can I? _Edward mused, determined to keep his notoriety as the Prince of Puzzles fully intact. Not that he minded watching her scurry up those stairs, in the least.

"Run, little mouse, run." He muttered, the cavernous room making the words slightly more audible.

Elodie would have frozen, mid-step, if she hadn't been sliding down the ramp in the most dignified matter she could muster.

"Mouse?" She whispered to herself, not minding if he heard her incredulous voice.

_I've accepted that this is a game, but that's just belittling, and insulting. _There was no further discussion about his comment, however, so Elodie took to focusing on his trivia questions.

* * *

After another eight rounds-and now six platforms from the top-Nygma was losing patience. His guest had a larger assortment of odd facts than he had anticipated and, coupled with her observational skills, she could answer some of his moderately difficult questions.

_Time to bring out a stumper_, he decided, grinning to himself while turning to his silently despairing guest.

"Every three months or so, a maintenance crew is in charge of driving along the streets of Gotham, and monitoring the life cycle of the bulbs in the streetlights.

Within the perimeter of two city blocks, one-hundred and sixteen light bulbs consisted of four blown out ones. Assume that this month's batch of six-thousand light bulbs, throughout the crew's assigned streets, has the same proportion of blown out bulbs as the two city blocks. How many of these bulbs need replacing?"

Elodie's eyes widened at the imposing mathematical problem-she was terrible at everything above simple arithmetic-and she could not bring herself to object that it wasn't trivia, as he threw in elements clearly only found in Gotham.

_Well, shit._ Her mind blanked, then, but she shook it off and began to recollect the important parts of the question.

_There's a ratio to this…I would divide six-thousand by one-hundred and sixteen, right? Shit! I can't do this in my head. What the hell? Is that considered cheating? Huh, probably…not that he'd ever admit it. _With her mood now successfully ruined, Elodie turned a put-off stare towards the masked man, bristling as his smile widened.

"I don't know." She sulked, sighing as he feigned having misheard her.

"What was that?"

"I don't know the answer." She repeated, huffing as the platform tilted, sending her down another ramp as the Riddler began to gloat.

"Do not fret, my dear. There are plenty of other opportunities for you to answer correctly. That was just a simple math problem." Elodie did not quite appreciate his reassurance. She continued to stare blankly at him, allowing him to continue his showboating, until he realized and cleared his throat.

"Well, let's continue."

* * *

It went straight downhill, after that, as Elodie's resolve broke and she began to grow tired and impatient. Even when she felt she knew the answer, she would say something slightly off, until she reached the fail line.

_Cue next bout of showboating in three, two…_

"Well, that didn't go as planned, now, did it? Ah, well, there's always the next time." The platform he stood on began to lower towards her, and she did not at all like the combination of his expression and stance. That combination set off a spark in her mind, concerning a non-too-distant and painful memory, effectively sending her into a panicked state.

A razor sharp cold stabbed at her insides, obliterating the broiling annoyance that had planted itself there. She felt her center of gravity shift, her head snapping back automatically, and realized that she had taken several steps back and was balancing on the edge of the platform. All she could manage to do was to glance back at Edward, only to have his face replaced by one that sent a shock through her.

_Predator; run or fight. Do it. Do it, now! _Not about to bowl into someone twice her size, Elodie glanced over the side of the pillar, her weight shifting so suddenly that she found herself plummeting towards the awaiting water below.

"What are you-!" Her own heartbeat drumming in her ears drowned everything else out. She stared blankly in front of herself, not comprehending what she had done, but soon came to.

A short-lived scream burst from her throat, before she impacted against a flimsy surface, the water she had expected there, but something preventing her from sinking.

_Pool cover? _She mused, mind fuzzy, as the freezing water caressed half of her face and tossed the skirt of her dress around. _No energy left…so tired, and cold, but tired. Sleep? Yeah…_Functioning solely on instinct, Elodie let her eyes flutter shut, the distant sound of a platform lowering of little consequence to her.

* * *

**Well then. It took me longer to update than I'd like to admit. Sorry for the wait. I temporarily (only temporarily!) lost motivation in working on this story. Blame the fact that it's summer time. And that I have to type everything that I have previously hand-written. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Edward's version of "Chutes and Ladders!" This was fun to write. Although, I'm pretty sure Elodie didn't enjoy it much. Please R&R!  
**


	10. Forget

She awoke shivering yet dry. He had been waiting patiently for her eyes to open.

The first thing Elodie noticed was that her clothes had been changed and that the top she now wore was hiked up to expose her chilled stomach.

The second thing was that Edward was lying alongside her, obvious skin contact being made.

"W-wh-at are you d-oing?" She chittered out, a spasm of quakes wracking her body as she attempted to flinch into herself.

"Your body is going into hypothermia. If your core is not kept warm, your heart will stop." The organ in question stuttered at his clipped tone. He was _not _happy with her, just then.

"O-oh." Not wanting to further peeve him, she remained quiet, the hitches in her breathing the only apparent sound in the room.

She was trying not to think of the fact that Edward was shirtless, while trying to find a spot to place her hands, without making her situation even more awkward. Her current roommate wasn't content to carry on the tense silence they had fallen into, however, which didn't at all surprise her.

"Well?" Elodie's eyes flickered up to take in their close proximity. She was disoriented enough to have no idea what he was asking.

"Hm?" She had reluctantly laid her head on a pillow close to where he had propped himself up; if she couldn't reduce the awkwardness of the situation, at least she could reduce her own physical discomfort.

"What rhyme or reason do you have for that little…stunt?"

Ah, there it was. Not the best conversation starter, but Elodie knew it would come up, sooner or later.

Too bad she didn't have much of a reason.

"T-the only explin-ation I c-can give is instinct; my f-fight or flight ki-cked i-in." Elodie's thoughts turned frantic as her heartbeat fluctuated, but she became both relieved and confused as Edward reached over her to secure the ever-shifting blankets around them, his right side becoming exposed as he coincidentally shifted closer.

_Carpe diem. _She thought ruefully, frowning as a skeptical smirk spread across his face.

"Which stimulus might have caused such a response, I wonder?" If her body temperature had been regulated, just then, a blush would have stained her face.

She knew that he knew, but also knew that she was being forced to say it, a form of what she assumed to be revenge for previously spiting the rogue. She wanted to crawl right under the blankets, just then, to avoid the undeniable embarrassment she was bound to undergo.

_Or, maybe not. He _is _wearing pants, right...? _She shook off any obscure questions, which were now bound to float around in her head, and switched back to the matter at hand.

"You." She sighed, pausing to add to her thoughts. "You can be intimidating, at times." Elodie gritted her teeth when he pulled her closer-her trembling had resumed-, a faux frown of confusion on his face.

"There's little reason to 'fly from' _or _fight me, don't you think? I can understand some trepidation, as far as intellectual differences go, but I won't hold it against you. Much." Elodie had been attempting to avoid looking anywhere but his face, but the combination of the light in his eyes, and the fact that he was shifting with every sentence he spoke, made it difficult for her eyes not to stray down towards his neck and collarbones.

_Why do I keep-ugh; I'm tired, and he knows it, so he must be doing this all on purpose. Jerk. Jerk, jerk, jerk-oh. _Her scattered thoughts went on lockdown as her entire body was enveloped in warmth. A down-feathered comforter fully insulated her as a warm body surrounded her curled up form.

"For now, however, let's not worry about those things." She wanted to protest when he moved away, in order to take something from off the nightstand, and lightly grasped her chin to turn her head to the side.

A slight pressure, and one beep later, Edward was frowning at the thermometer, and set it back before turning back with an assuring smile.

"Not at the temperature I was hoping for, but a definite improvement. I wonder: Why are you so effected now, even after all the supposed time you spent with Freeze? How, exactly, did you manage to attend school for those six months? I could have sworn I saw you board a train and that the Iceman, himself, claimed you as his assistant." Her mind swam with his words as she internally panicked.

There was no way to answer him, without giving herself or her uncle away, so she resorted to the avoidance approach.

"As you saw, the room I stayed in wasn't refrigerated, like the rest of the building. I also happen to be from a mid-western state; most weather, besides dry heat, gives me the chills. As for my position as his assistant…I've already said that I won't be revealing any direct information, concerning him. Our agreement is confidential and you'll need to get through _him _to get an answer."

Her levels of discomfort rose, as he wound his arms around her waist, the action feeling somewhat possessive. Edward was smiling, however, so she was sure that her words had yet to set him off.

"My, my, was that a challenge? Your underestimation of my abilities is charming. Perhaps I'll show you an example of my work, soon. I have one in the works, as it is, so I might as well." His face was centimeters from hers, eyes twinkling mischievously as their foreheads touched.

"I could take you on a tour of my city. It would give me good reason to increase the difficulty of our trivia games." A blush bloomed across her cheeks and reassured both of them that Elodie's body temperature was indeed regulating. "How about it?" He questioned, eyes traveling over her face with an amused grin on his.

The thought of escape lit up her thoughts like a LED sign.

"Well-ah-sure-" She gasped, eyes snapping shut, as the redhead leaned the rest of the way in to capture her lips with his.

_No, no, no! Leggo'. Let go! _Her head swam with the not unpleasant scent of what she guessed was cinnamon as her lips were assaulted.

Elodie remained perfectly still, eyes tentatively opening, then widening as she was pushed into a pillow. Edward's unfortunate lack of shirt caused her to pause in pushing him away, but her utter lack of response caused him to pull away, possibly having been unaware of what he was doing.

He stared down at her, blinking a few times in rapid succession, obviously pondering what had just taken place. Clearing his throat, he slid back into his original position, his grip remaining as secure as ever.

"I seem to have, ah…forgotten myself." He recovered the hesitation in his words by the confident air he radiated. "You seem fatigued, darling. It's fairly late, to begin with, so there's no harm in resting up." Elodie nodded, almost fully recovered from her little swim, expecting him to leave her to it. This failed to occur, though, as he turned to switch off the lights.

"I would retire to my temporary quarters, but there has been very little opportunity for me to sleep, and I need to ensure that your body temperature remains regulated. There's also the fact that this _is _my room." Elodie's eyes widened at the realization, and stifled a groan, bracing herself for the most awkward night of her life.

"Alright…" Being able to see nothing through the dense darkness, Elodie let her eyes flutter closed, a spark of confusion and unease igniting in her gut as her unseen roommate unconsciously ran his fingers through her hair.

The action seemed casual, but Elodie couldn't help but wonder if he was doing it just for the sake of doing it. Finally, she decided not to be too bothered, attempting-and failing-to keep a smile off her face at the familiar feeling.

_Should I be worried that this isn't unpleasant, to me? It reminds me of my mother, or…_

_**Dante. **_

Moisture pricked her eyes, and she bit down on her lip to distract herself, certain that Edward was awake by the rhythm of his breathing.

_I completely forgot. This whole ordeal made me forget. But now…damn it. _Elodie held in any sounds of discomfort, focused on the rhythmic brushing through her hair, which only upset her further.

"Go ahead." Edward instructed, voice vibrating through his chest as he caught a tear sliding down her face with his thumb.

Exhausted from holding the burden of secrecy, the young woman collapsed against the bed, blinking the moisture out of her eyes with a shaky sigh. If she had seen the victorious smile on his face, she would have clammed right up.

"It isn't healthy to suppress issues that reduce you to tears, you know. The best way to work things out is to talk about them." Grimly amused by the fact that someone who had spent time in an asylum was giving her life advice, Elodie gave a slight nod. She knew that she was going to face some unpleasant consequences if she once more shot down any inquiries Edward had, concerning why she had fled her school's campus in favor of Gotham.

"I know." She admitted, too tired to care that she was agreeing with him. Pausing, Elodie took a calming breath, before delving into her explanation.

"I had made a friend during freshmen year. He was one of the only male dancers in the school, and some girls belittled and brushed him off for wanting to major in dance. He was isolated; didn't have many friends…so, I volunteered to be his dance partner, and he quickly became like a brother to me. I would help him practice lifts and he would tutor me in math.

Right before last winter break, though, he started getting…weird. Possessive, almost. He was paranoid that I would lose interest in our friendship and 'move on to make better friends.' He would call to see where I was and who I was with, at all times, and threw a fit whenever I didn't answer his calls. I started to distance myself; He would call, at three in the morning, crying and threatening to kill himself.

Towards the end of December, I'd had enough. I filed a restraining order, switched to early morning classes from the ones we'd shared, and heard and saw nothing of him." Elodie's voice slowly transitioned from shaken to even and a little tired. The unfaltering movement through her white locks was beginning to lull her, making her voice muffled with sleep, but she pressed on.

"Then one day, after a rough practice, he approached me. He was crying; obviously drunk…asked me why I had 'abandoned' him. When I didn't give him the response he wanted to hear, he started shouting, and eventually hit me." The trailing fingers abruptly stopped, giving Edward's reaction away, causing Elodie to frown. The gut feeling that she shouldn't tell him the rest grew stronger, as the silent moment stretched on, leaving her uncomfortable and nervous about his reaction.

Finally, she decided that she was too deep into her story to stop there, even if the memory tore her up. Even as she thought of it, a searing pain shot through her chest, causing fresh tears to spring to her eyes.

"We were in the park on campus, and it was getting deserted and dark. He tried to…tried to-" Elodie's voice dissolved into sobs. She remained complacent when Edward pulled her closer, resting her cheek on his chest as he resumed running his fingers through her hair, grip on her waist tightening.

Nygma was silently formulating a way to painfully-and in the most humiliating way possible-teach the barbaric moron, whom has reduced his little anomaly to tears, not to touch _his _things.

The young woman was determined and respectful to him and of any knowledge he happened to impart to her. She was also not impervious to his charms, and wasn't as dull as a rock, unlike some of the plastic bimbos inhabiting Gotham.

Any upset caused by outside forces was unwelcome; although they could potentially assist him with gaining her trust, crying in general annoyed him, and Elodie was doing an awful lot of it lately. Doing so meant that one was overwhelmed. Edward Nygma was never overwhelmed.

"What's his name?" He asked, his hushed whisper sending a chill down Elodie's spine. She shook her head, and was about to object, but Edward beat her to the punch. "I am going to find out, regardless, so you may as well tell me." The young woman knew that this battle was a lost one, and released the breath she had been holding, her muscles relaxing as sleep hovered over her.

"Dante Cairo." She muttered, bringing her arms up to shift closer to the only source of warmth in the immediate area. A semi-familiar sensation pressed against her forehead, causing her to blink in surprise, but not enough to snap out of her submersion of sleep. Her eyelids fluttered shut, even as he tucked her into his curled form.

"'M not…a teddy bear…" was the last of Elodie's semi-coherent thoughts, before unconsciousness claimed her fully, making her oblivious to the waking world.

Edward, caught off-guard by her dismissive words, chuckled to himself.

"Of course you're not, darling." He whispered in amusement, mind surging with plans-every possible outcome to such plans coming along with them.

_She most certainly provided me with the opportunity to "save" her. What other opportunities may arise? _The thought was enough to yield a smile from the sleep-deprived man. With a plan for the following days to come, he allowed himself to drift, sleep coming soon enough.

* * *

**Another update. Hooray! As I forgot to include in the last chapter update, a **huge** thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited/commented this story! I admit to happy-dancing every time I get one of those magical notification emails. ****I hope you guys feel special, as I have some particularly nasty paper cuts riiiiight on the tip of several of my fingers, and I typed this all up, despite the pain. Much love.**

**Until next time. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman in any way, shape, or form. If I did, his suit would be pink. Bright pink. With ribbons.  
**


	11. Internship?

As she gradually awoke, Elodie managed to partially squint her eyes open, only for them to snap the rest of the way up as she realized the position she was in.

With one of Edward's arms holding her to himself, one of her arms had somehow been slung around his neck, the other propped above her head and effectively mushing the redhead's face with her hand. Throughout the night, their legs had also become a tangled mess of blankets, confirming that Elodie wouldn't be going anywhere, anytime soon.

Crimson spread across her face and down her neck, as the situation dawned on her, and darkened as she caught herself looking at the still-slumbering face of her roommate.

_His mask is…gone. _She found herself staring at his eyelashes-previously hidden and practically blond in hue.

_Pretentious, pious, criminally insane…but, dammit, why is he so _pretty?

Just then, as if hearing her thoughts, Edward's eyes groggily shifted open.

With a content sigh, he pulled her closer, causing her blush to deepen further.

"Well, good morning to _you_. The blood vessels in your face seem to be functioning well, now. The danger of hypothermia has passed, I'm pleased to say." As if to emphasize the fact, he briefly squeezed the young woman's waist, before reluctantly releasing her and setting to work on detaching himself from the bed sheets.

Now free to move, Elodie immediately re-covered her torso with the top she had been put in, still blatantly gawking at his hazel eyes.

"Um…yes, well, good morning-"

"Edward, my dear." Elodie turned her head, suddenly interested in the wall parallel to the bed, feeling the red creep down her neck.

"Good morning, Edward." She said reluctantly, wincing as her head was turned to receive the kiss he placed on her temple. Now fearing that her potential for escape was threatened, she glanced at him, wondering if he was doing this on purpose.

"So…where's your mask?" Uncharacteristically slow in his first few moments of consciousness, Edward turned to look at her, his now visible brow quirking upward.

"My mask? Why, my dear, it's right-" As soon as his fingertips touched the bare skin around his eyes, his expression darkened as he stood, tension apparent in his back muscles as he calmly excused himself and swept out of the room.

"ECHO!" His voice bellowed, the anger in it enough to make Elodie shrink back into the blankets. The sound of a muffled and-understandably-nervous female voice drifted through the doorway. She noticed that the door had been left ajar, her eyes widening at the prospect.

Sliding off the bed, she made it halfway across the room, before a draft alerted her to her sleep attire.

An amethyst purple sateen baby doll top and matching shorts adorned her torso and not much else. It seemed to be very poor attire for escape, so she settled on satisfying the curiosity she held, concerning the voice called Echo. She inched closer to the doorway and peered out.

Elodie's eyes widened at the sight of a tall brunette woman in black sweats and a stomachless tank top. She seemed anxious, maybe even a little fearful, but not remorseful as Nygma snatched what she assumed to be his mask out of the woman's hand. She smiled meekly, before zeroing in on Elodie, a mischievous smirk replacing the expression.

"The little ice cube's awake, huh?" The woman gibed, taking half a step back at what Elodie assumed to be a heated expression from Edward.

With her presence now being pointed out, the still-chilled woman lingered in the threshold of the room, hesitating when he politely beckoned to her, before finally complying and padding out into the open.

_It's not like I'm any more underdressed than either of them_. She reasoned, joining in on the "pajama party" with an air of timidity.

"I may as well formally introduce you two. Elodie, this is Echo; one of my personal assistants. Echo; my newest and, admittedly, lovely protégé-" The newly awoken woman's eyes widened.

_His _what?

"Your _what?" _Her and Echo's voices chorused, another female voice joining theirs. Elodie turned to spy an equally tall and beautiful woman coming through the threshold of another hallway, sizing her up in disbelief.

"Query." Edward greeted, focus returning to the matter at hand.

"Yes, ladies, my protégé. Who better than someone uninfluenced by the bias all of Gotham has unreasonably set against me? Yes, with some training and critique, dear Elodie will easily range above and beyond the mental capacity of those dull-witted simpletons." Wondering when she had agreed to this, the disgruntled woman interjected, confused and annoyed.

"I didn't know even half of the answers in the trivia game. How could I-?" His sharp grin indicated trouble for her.

"You _faked _not knowing many of those answers. You were becoming bored, and used the method of aversion, to speed the process up. While it did not fool me, a person of lesser intelligence would not have caught on." Elodie huffed at that, having hoped that she wouldn't be caught, much to Edward's amusement.

"I don't intentionally break laws. Ever. Nor will I." The redhead also had an answer for that, it seemed, as the other two women shared knowing glances.

"Crime? No, no, what that buffoon of a _boy _attempted was a crime. The things _I _do are challenges, if not works of art, sent out in search of even the smallest glimmer of hope that anyone in this cesspool of a city has enough mental resilience to solve them." He truly looked pained, which only served to alarm Elodie, who then gained a sense of just how serious he was about her internship.

"I have been disappointed, countless times, with the only speck of hope reflecting off the one who wishes to stop-yes, even contain-me." She noticed that the two women had moved out of range, just in time for Edward to exuberantly clasp her hands between his own, an excited fire leaping through his eyes.

"And now, here you are; The closest inkling I have to an equal, without being an adversary. Don't you see how much you could progress? I could teach you-mold you-to your full potential. You would never have to deal with the likes of beings like _Dante_, ever again, and prove your worth with the blink of an eye."

Elodie was awestruck, her eyes locked onto his, the fervor in his voice conflicting with her preconceived notions of all that he stood for.

The lines of truth and lie began to blur.

_He's a _criminal_, but…would that make uncle Victor-? No! He does what he does for aunt Nora. Never for himself. What does Edward need all the money _he _steals for?_

The penthouse that she was currently standing in, for starters.

_There's no legitimate answer. There's no real reason for me to listen to him. I won't allow my morals and sense of judgment be overtaken by his. Or develop Stockholm Syndrome. _Having now centered herself, Elodie returned her attention to Edward, frowning slightly.

"What do you get out of doing this for me?"

Relief swept through Edward as his wary companion questioned his motives, a final defense that he would allow, until he was able to land his final blow and convince her opportunistic side of his ways.

"The opportunity to teach someone willing and eager to learn. To be able to watch a mind expand and broaden, as that person comes to know what it means to be fully aware of themselves and others, and the drastic difference between the two. The moment that you realize that, yes, you are mentally and genetically superior to most others, and that it is not a matter of opinion, but a fact. To see you progress is my goal."

_But not my _only _goal. _

Elodie's mind was left blank at this. She stuttered incoherently, for a moment, her face heating up and her eyes beginning to sting.

_I can't trust him. There's always something more; something bad. Why can't he leave me alone; get bored and let me leave? But, I saw his face. Is there a rule for that? Can I not leave now? _Slowly taking her hands back, Elodie took a step back, a soft "no" brushing past her lips as she turned to sprint directly into the bathroom.

* * *

Sitting on the chair she had pressed against the doorknob, her chest heaving, Elodie's thoughts whipped around her head in quick succession. Her upset flared as she continued to sit there, head spinning, with her sight fogging up with tears. She jumped as a smooth, soft voice came from directly behind her.

"Elodie, darling, do you not approve of my offer? Is something the matter?" The velvet in his voice drew a sob from the trembling woman.

_Don't want this. Can't think straight. Can't-_

"Elodie?" Strong traces of impatience sounded through his voice, snapping her resolve to remain silent in two.

"I _can't_ afford to trust you. I can't! I don't even _know _you! I've _let_ people string me along before, and it _never _turns out the way it's supposed to! I'm so tired of…" Her voice trailed off with a chocked sound, and she fell back into silence, the room suddenly seeming much smaller to her.

_What to do? What…to…_Her eyes landed on the spool of what appeared to be metallic thread peering at her from the slightly ajar bathroom closet. Moving to grab it, she glanced around the room, blocking out the muffled coaxing coming from both Edward and Echo on the other side of the door.

Upon finding the right angle, she hopped onto the counter, setting to work.

* * *

**A pathetically short update after a pathetically long gap between updates, but here it is. Thank my inner perfectionist for wanting to revise the plot (GASP!), from here on out, a million times. I didn't let her, though. Until next time~**


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